A Venezuelan immigrant who fled the country’s socialist regime told the Daily Caller News Foundation there are indications that the U.S. is heading down the path of socialism.

Andrés Guilarte, a political activist who has been living as an asylum seeker in the United States for three years, said that price and currency controls that have contributed to “rising inflation and rampant crime,” as well as government attacks on freedom of speech, are warning signs of an embrace of socialism.

Democrats have recently pushed the Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act, which would allow the Federal Trade Commission to punish fossil fuel companies if they are are deemed to be inflating the price of gas or oil. President Joe Biden has repeatedly blamed rising energy prices on oil companies, urging them to “bring down the price at the pump.”

“In a socialist regime, leaders always have to deflect blame for the country’s struggles to something else; they do not claim responsibility,” Guilarte told the DCNF.

“Inflation is a huge issue. Not trusting the government or not being able to speak freely is insane, but if you have money, you can still breathe, eat and live. Uncontrolled crime is also a huge issue in Venezuela. My biggest fears were always was I going to eat that day and was I going to get robbed or killed,” Guilarte said.

The Consumer Price Index, a key measure of inflation, hit 9.1% in June, the highest rate since 1981. The cost of living has also skyrocketed for Americans due to severe inflation. Food prices increased 10.4% in June 2022, enabling many Americans to buy and consume less food.

Inflation and increased crime are both “consequences of policies,” Guilarted added. “Inflation is because of price controls, currency controls and printing of money. Crime because criminals don’t care about the provisions on weapons, they still carry, and you have no means to fight back.”

Similarly, crime rates in America have hit extremely high levels, and six U.S. cities are on track to surpass their record 2021 violent crime counts, according to Fox News. Fortunately, with America’s democratic system, policies can be “reverted.”

“Some people here in the U.S. try to implement price controls, but you can revert that once a different person gets into power. Inflation can be undone with the correct policy,” Guilarte said.

However, Guilarte added that Americans are losing faith in the democratic system.

“The bigger issue is when you lose trust in the institutions and the democratic system. There is not a balance of power because the government controls all of them [institutions]. The people don’t trust the government, the institutions, the police, the military or any figure associated with the government. When you reach that point, on a cultural level, when people don’t trust institutions, that’s when you start getting into big issues,” Guilarte warned.