Time Stolen by the State: Why Infrastructure Fails under Chronic Interventionism

In emerging democracies, infrastructure is rarely treated as a means. It becomes a promise, a symbol, sometimes a substitute for progress itself. Metro systems, highways, ports, and monumental public works are announced as proof that the state is moving history forward. Yet years pass, costs multiply, and delivery remains modest. What is lost in the process is not only money, but time, the most irreplaceable of all resources.

There Are No Good Outcomes in Trump’s Latest Attempt at Regime Change in Venezuela

Early Saturday morning, after months of military buildup, strikes on boats, and verbal threats, US forces entered Venezuela on President Trump’s orders and captured President Nicolás Maduro.

A few dozen Venezuelan soldiers and civilians were reportedly killed in the bombings carried out to cover the American soldiers who flew in to grab the Venezuelan leader.

Marisa1

Marisa Jarquin serves as the Executive Director of Guate Libre and Se Libre, based in Guatemala.

Regime Change and Nation-Building Are Back!

As was the case the morning after “Shock and Awe” signaled the start of the Iraq war, many are cheering the US military raid on Venezuela and capture of its president, Nicolas Maduro. Overwhelming US military power – and likely some bribed Venezuelan officials – ensured that the operation was swift and dramatic.

This was not a war, we were told. It was just a surgical operation to remove a criminal dictator and restore democracy to the country. American oil companies would soon get even richer exploiting the country’s vast oil reserves. This time it will be different!