With the new advent of new “revolutionary tourists” tramping through the shantytowns of Caracas on guided dog-and-pony “reality tours,” Venezuelans, the latest zoo animals for these gringos, are aghast.

Here these unkempt, arrogant, Che t-shirt-wearing Sandalistas are, well-fed and staying in Caracas’ five-star hotels, getting out to get down and dirty among the ‘real people’ and imagining that they know what’s going on.

The problem is, being tourists, they see a tourist-eye view of things regardless of how many Che t-shirts they own, and refuse see what’s really going on. At all. They see what they and their tour guides want them to see, hear the versions of events they want to hear, and then go home with a vengeance to say they “understand” Venezuela. The whole pre-packaged scene is like painting by numbers and calling it “art.” More to the point, it’s a complete sham — and has been, ever since the days of the Nicaraguan Sandalistas.

Alex Beech, a Venezuelan blogger, has one of the best smackdowns ever written to these revolutionary tourists. No one has ever put it better, and her piece absolutely dazzles.

It’s today’s biggest must-read here.