AS I write this column, just days before New Year’s Eve 2019, we are being bombarded by great news about the U.S. economy under President Donald Trump. It doesn’t get any better than this.

The NASDAQ just hit 11,000 for the first time in history. It’s up are markable 11 days in a row. The Dow and the S&P also hit new highs. We just received fresh confirmation from China that the phase one trade deal is close to being signed.

We also found out that global stock markets — led almost entirely by the U.S. markets —gained $17 trillion in wealth in 2019. The entire world is getting rich because of President Trump and his pro-business, progrowth, low-tax economic policies.

And I really like this headline at CNBC: “Trump stock market rally is far outpacing past U.S. presidents.”

It’s no surprise, then, that, despite impeachment, President Trump is running away with the 2020 election. As James Carville once said, “It’s the economy, stupid.”

But Venezuela proves it could all change quickly. Venezuela is the canary in a coal mine for the U.S. economy. Venezuela went from the richest country in Latin America to nightmare, tragedy and mass starvation.

Earlier this year, a young man in his 20s named Daniel DiMartino tried to warn us in a USA Today commentary. He was born and raised in Venezuela. He lived his entire life under socialism. But he was blessed to escape to America.

He explained how it happened in Venezuela — with all the same socialist ideas and fantasies being preached by Democrats today. Free everything. Guaranteed jobs for everyone. Welfare galore. Minimum wage hikes. Massive new taxes and regulations. A government takeover of entire industries such as health care. Price controls. Massive money printing.

These were the downfall of Venezuela.

Today, there are few jobs in Venezuela. Most people live in misery. There is rationed electricity. Nonstop blackouts. No running water for days on end. Shortages of diapers and toilet paper. Empty shelves at supermarkets. Four-hour lines to buy toothpaste or flour. Rampant inflation, with prices doubling every two weeks.

DiMartino’s parents earned thousands of dollars per month as professionals in 1999. By 2016, they earned less than $2 per day.

Do you understand that the socialist regime in Venezuela nationalized electricity and water to make them “free”? Now no one has any.

This is where socialism leads. I haven’t even mentioned the banning of free speech and the jailing and torturing of opposition politicians and protesters.

Just like in Venezuela, it won’t happen overnight. But a long, tragic nightmare could begin around this time next year.