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Socialist Venezuela owns hundreds of companies and most are going under
A man shows a new 50-Bolivar-coin at a kiosk in Caracas on December 28, 2016. Venezuela took delivery on December 27 of its third load of new, bigger denomination banknotes, its central bank said, but there was no sign of them in circulation yet despite official promises and mounting public anxiety. Maduro's announcement that the 100-bolivar notes would suddenly no longer be legal tender provoked long lines of people trying to change them, and looting and rioting in some areas, resulting in four deaths. / AFP / FEDERICO PARRA (Photo credit should read FEDERICO PARRA/AFP/Getty Images)

Socialist Venezuela owns hundreds of companies and most are going under

More bad news for those who believe socialism is the way to go, as more information has surfaced about Venezuela's ever crumbling finances and infrastructure.

According to information recently garnered by the nonprofit Transparency International, Venezuela's government owns, or has a majority ownership in 511 businesses within the country. Sadly for Venezuela, 70 percent of these companies are bleeding money, and potentially contributing to Venezuela's continued financial downfall.

“We started this study because nobody really knows how many companies the state is running,” said Mercedes De Freitas, director of the Venezuelan branch of Transparency International. “The state has invaded every sector imaginable.”

The amount of money lost by the companies isn't something to scoff at either, with 2016 seeing a total of $129 billion gone from the failing businesses.

What's more, Venezuela's ownership of companies far outreaches that of other states that are typically larger than them, as reported by the Miami Herald.

The sheer number of companies under state control seems to put Venezuela in a class of its own, the group said. Brazil, which has about six times the population of Venezuela, has 130 state-run companies, and Argentina, a third larger than Venezuela, has 52.

Venezuela's ownership expands out to things such as toilet paper, medicine, cellphones, milk, which is also the things Venezuela is tragically lacking. Venezuela's citizens have been relegated to literal and figurative bread lines in order to get the food and supplies they need for everyday living. Women have even been sterilizing themselves to avoid bringing another mouth to feed into the world. Many have lost dangerous amounts of weight due to the shortages.

 

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Brandon Morse

Brandon Morse

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