Franklin Camargo, a PragerU contributor who experienced the socialist hellscape of Venezuela firsthand, spoke about the realities during an appearance on Breitbart News Daily, as Democrats in the U.S. are considering electing socialist leaders such as Zohran Mamdani in New York City.
“What did you see in Venezuela that we need to be aware of,” host Mike Slater asked.
Chillingly, Camargo — who received asylum in President Trump’s first administration — said what he saw in socialist Venezuela was “very similar” to many of the policies touted by some of the politicians running for office in the U.S., such as Mamdani.
“I was actually raised in a country where the government built public housing, where the government nationalized the means of production, where the state managed grocery stores, controlled prices, and of course, went after the rich, because the rich is the one to blame for everything, and we have to go after them in the name of social justice,” he began.
“Gun control — we had gun control as well. Weapons were prohibited, and hate speech — which basically means any type of criticism against power, against the government — was also punished by law, and that’s why I was accused of being a terrorist,” he said, cheekily stating that he lived the “dream” that many leftists in America are currently fantasizing about. But now, he said he is in America to speak out and warn of the horrors that lay ahead on that path.
“I’m here in America to speak out, so you guys don’t have to go through that, because America is the greatest nation on Earth,” he said, explaining that it is “the greatest one because of the ideas that founded this country, because people here love this country, and because for many years, immigrants who came here embraced American values.”
“Now we don’t see that as often as we should, and it’s really unfortunate,” he added.
Slater asked Camargo to detail his experience with government-run grocery stores in light of Mamdani proposing it and Democrats such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) praising it as something that has seen real success.
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“Growing up in Venezuela was a very nostalgic experience, even for a young person like me, because I would go to the grocery store with my mom, for instance, and we wouldn’t be able to find milk or eggs, or sometimes, would have to wait in line for four or five hours just to get bread,” he said, recalling that his mother would tell him it was not always that way.
Camargo said one of the biggest impacts of coming to America was seeing how much food is in U.S. grocery stores.
“The fact that this idea that the government should own grocery stores is becoming popular in some areas, in some cities, or is appealing to young people, is very concerning,” he said. “The government shouldn’t control grocery stores.”
He said it is an idea that will destroy private business.
“Do you actually want politicians to control what you eat? Do you actually want politicians who have control of your food? No, you don’t want that. They’re going to destroy private businesses. … When they control the means of production, when they control the only food that you can access, they would only provide food to you if you support them, and that is a very dangerous idea,” he explained.
WATCH — Watch: Billboard of Maduro Set Ablaze amid Venezuelan Election Protests:
“You don’t want the government to control that. You’re going to be a starving and then they’re going to use that as a political weapon,” Camargo warned.
When he first came to the country, he said he never thought the U.S. would go down the path of socialism.
“Right now, I still have hope that most Americans are freedom lovers and freedom fighters, but at the same time, the fact that you and I are right now debating or talking about the leading candidate for the most iconic and important city in the country — the city that has the largest amount of Democratic voters — and we’re talking about the government managing grocery stores is very concerning,” he added, noting that it is a shame that people here are trying to change the country entirely.
“It’s not just about stopping illegal immigration. We also need to stop legal immigration from people who do not want to embrace American values,” Camargo concluded.
Breitbart News Daily airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
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