Democratic Socialists claim socialism works; it's failures of the past result from it's abuse by dictators who perverted it's application. Socialism works if it's applied and practiced in a fair democratic process. Venezuela embraced socialism by electing Hugo Chavez through a democratic election in 1998 and the results for Venezuela under a socialist government were predictable. These conditions continued after under the current president Maduro. Amnesty International brought the humanitarian crisis of socialism in Venezuela to light in a September 20, 2018 article which showed the government using military force, committing murder to ensure socialist control, mortality rates skyrocketing and over 85% of it's citizens live in poverty. Socialism is socialism and continues to create economic and humanitarian disasters where ever it's been tried. Democratic Socialists own this one. This was socialism embraced by a democratic process, yet the results remain the same, no matter the circumstances it has been applied.