10 Signs Your Country is a Banana Republic: A Cautionary Tale

#7. The Government Blames Foreigners for Everything

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One of the oldest tactics utilized by authoritarian governments, scapegoating foreigners is the perfect way to distract the populace from the real causes of their current plight. Some of the greatest injustices in the history of mankind have been levied against foreigners under this type of reasoning. It’s easy to point the finger at select minorities and other marginalized groups, when the guilty parties are those in power.

Like any good banana republic, present day Venezuela has turned to this playbook blaming the United States for its miserable economic state. Labeling the United States as “imperialists” and “coup-mongers”, Nicolás Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chavéz have made sure to paint the U.S. as the boogeyman behind all the ills that Venezuela faces. The United States. can be at fault for various foreign policy malfeasances, but when it comes to Venezuela, its misery is clearly self-imposed.

Banana republics never refuse to look at themselves in the mirror and see who the real culprit is.

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