Venezuelan asylum-seekers warn about effects of lockdown-era America

Two Venezuelan asylum-seekers are warning that the recent shutdowns in response to the coronavirus pandemic are giving Americans a taste of the socialist ideology that drove their homeland down the road to economic and social ruin -- and are urging Americans to avoid going down that path in the future, even if public health imperatives dictate strict measures now ...

Galicia, a freedom activist who came to the U.S. in 2018 after he says he suffered political persecution from despot Nicolas Maduro's regime, along with fellow exile Andrés Guilarte, have been warning of the dangers of socialism for months as part of a college campus tour promoted by The Fund for American Studies.

They have a tough climb ahead of them. Progressive ideas such as "Medicare-for-all," basic income plans and exorbitant welfare spending have increasingly caught on, particularly amid the economic downturn, and left-wing members of Congress such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., have become increasingly popular in recent years ...