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TechnoratiVenezuela's Chavez Shifts Gears in Leftist Revolution
CARACAS - Undaunted by a slowing economy, Venezuela's still popular President Hugo Chavez is picking up the pace of his left-wing revolution with a relentless raft of nationalizations and an offensive against opponents.
![[Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez talks to the media after his arrival at Salvador City, capital of the northeastern state of Bahia May 26, 2009. REUTERS/Juan Carlos Solorzano/Miraflores Palace/Handout]](http://www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/chavez-2_0.jpg "chavez-2.jpg")
Hot on the heels of nationalizing dozens of oil service companies in the OPEC nation earlier this month, Chavez ordered the takeover of several large iron makers last week, then snapped up a large bank and vowed to further limit the private sector.
"We are not subordinated to the bourgeoise elite but to the interests of the people," Chavez said on Saturday. "We are proceeding and will continue to proceed with nationalizations of strategic sectors."
In separate moves that erode democratic credentials earned with a string of election victories since he first won office a decade ago, Chavez has also stripped power from opposition mayors and governors this year and harassed an opposition TV station.
His government has already taken over oil projects, along with telecoms, power and steel companies, and there are numerous sectors including food, health and education that could yet feel his hand through tight regulation or nationalizations.
Oil drillers including Halliburton are also potential targets of Chavez's push to build what he dubs "21st Century Socialism" in one of the most Americanized corners of Latin America, where he is popular for spending on the poor.
Despite record oil prices, 2008 was a tough year for the anti-American leader, who lost support following the defeat of a proposed new constitution that would have given him broader powers.
But Chavez has found his stride again this year, winning a referendum that lets him stay in power as long as he wins elections. He has 60 percent approval ratings even as the economy slows and his government struggles to pay bills in the vital oil sector where income has fallen.
He is operating on two fronts, increasing state control of business through takeovers and heavier scrutiny while battering critics with everything from tough policing of marches to threats to punish the fiercely critical Globovision television station.
The government has opened a number of corruption probes, including one against leading opposition voice Manuel Rosales, who fled charges and was granted asylum in Peru.
"I've said it before and I repeat, we must keep up the offensive, bulldozing the counter-revolution," Chavez told party activists in April. "We can no longer be the idiots we were."
'POWER TO THE PEOPLE'
Chavez started his nationalization drive in 2007 during a five year oil boom, when bulging state coffers allowed him to buy majority stakes in oil projects run by foreign companies such as Total and worth billions of dollars.
With oil revenues so far this year at half what they were in 2008, Chavez has warned companies that he may pay for new takeovers with government bonds.
Putting profitable ventures in state hands is a way to bolster financing for social projects, and Chavez recently said his government has recovered its investment in telephone company CANTV two years after buying a $572 million stake from U.S.-based Verizon Communications.
The government agreed last week to pay $1 billion for a unit of Spanish bank Santander, and intends to use its purchase to facilitate credits to farmers and poor families.
Major oil service companies such as Halliburton and Schlumberger Ltd are perhaps the largest interests now at risk of takeovers, since state oil company PDVSA has fallen behind in payments worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Chavez's critics accuse him of trying to establish himself as a dictator, although he has repeatedly won elections and some of his opponents' own democratic credentials are poor after trying to oust him in a 2002 coup. They also closed down the oil industry for months, and then sidelined themselves by boycotting legislative elections.
Still, Chavez has clearly clamped down following opposition wins in major cities and states in regional elections last year, stripping Caracas's new mayor of power over half the capital and naming his own unelected representative.
Chavez, who has a taste for fiery rhetoric and military uniforms, first tried to take office in a 1992 coup, but he denies he is power hungry.
"The bourgeoise accuses me of accumulating power. I am not accumulating power, I want nothing for me, everything is for the Venezuelan people," he said.
Additional reporting by Enrique Andres Pretel; Editing by Kieran Murray
146 Comments so far
Show AllI don't feel nutcase at all. I do feel there are subjects one may discuss, of a controversial nature, which you may not like because they are contrary to your perceptions and opinions. It is important to avoid falling into a dogmatic stance which refuses to listen to others' opinions. And my young friend, I assure you, there hasn't been a single human being on this planet who was always right. Hopefully you can mature as a group and realize that indeed, this man Chavez is a deffective leader.
Thanks for the excellent link. I truly believe Chavez is a highly intelligent man of the people, the best possible combination.
Sancho is preaching to the converted here and needs to take his advocacy to Republicans who need to hear him.
I think Venezuela is an exciting experiment in democracy and it has the Masters of the Universe freaked out.
Maybe if we get to have a revolution it will be a role model for us. God knows we need both.
When the people fear their government there is tyranny,
when the government fears the people there is liberty.
~ Thomas Jefferson
Hugo Chavez is a real hero and I love him for it. I will do what I can,find ways, to help him.
I also have qualification regarding Chavez - but it's up to the Venezuelan people to decide who is going to run their country. The elites' have not delivered - but there is no good 'socialist' model to follow regarding the kind of conversion necessary in Latin America, and mistakes will be made - nobody is perfect, after all. I'm sure there is a lot of griping going on there - that's inevitable in any society, under any kind of government. What really matters is the GINI coefficient - that tells how well a collective society is doing. (We're not fairing too well in that category, and the current model adopted by 'our ruling elite' doesn't hold much promise for the future either.)
As for Chavez being re-elected - remember FDR? And the attempted coup against him? And how, after THAT failure, term limits were initiated in the US? I don't like Chavez' rambling rants either - but he does seem a bit more sincere about his hopes for his country, even if we don't like his style - which I think is what is causing so much rancor among not only his detractors, but many of his would-be supporters as well. We'll see where Venezuela stands after 30 years of experimenting with socialism - and how that stacks up against 30+ years of neo-fascism in the US (which shows no sign of abating, despite the desires of the American people, who have noobdy respresenting THEIR wishes at all...) There is NO WAY modern socialism could ever be worse than fascism - the one form of government repeatedly proven to fail the collective society in all aspects!!!
Without a true 'Left' in the US, it is irrelevant (and irresponsible) for us to judge any other society, since we have no balanced frame of reference. And now, with our model of oligarchy bringing misery to so many Americans (with much worse to follow, according to the IMF), we'd be much better off trying to LEARN from successful social democracies and trying to adopt the best concepts to our own failed government - and failed society. Without strict morals, equality, consistency, accountable responsibility, honesty, and dedication to providing for the least among us (a moral requirement for any sustainable society) - we are doomed to an inevitable collapse. We should all be seeking to improve our society - the collective - by any and all means available, instead of trying to prop up the failed examples that have brought us to the brink of disaster.
It's way past time to remove the log from our own collective eyes - and start critisizing the failed ideology that led us to these sad and miserable times. That's not 'anti-American' - that's patriotic. Denying our faults will not make them go away - a paradigm shift is required, and soon, or we will be beyond salvage - and beyond hope. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to create a better future - no matter how painful it may be to honestly consider our actions, both in domestic reform and our failed policies abroad. Unlike the wealthy oligarchs, we cannot move to Switzerland or some other country that offers security, or retire to guarded 'gated communities' - have to face ourselves and our mistakes, and act with the morality and generosity we so famously claim as our ideals. We have to live up to our own standards and spend at least as much energy repairing our society as we do critisizing others.
Armybrat,
While no political science major, and actually a small-business libertarian at heart,
I feel your post is among the most accurate assessments on this subject. You write extremely well.
Please keep it up.
Cheers,
TJ
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." - Thomas Jefferson
A Reuters article? Why doesn't CD just publish Sean Hannity regularly?
Truth is, Chavez is still here, elected, popular, and Bush is still gone, despised and a war criminal. The only thing keeping him from jail is Bush's house nigga Obama's refusal to investigate and prosecute him.
If only more leaders of the world had the courage and intelligence of Hugo Chavez.
obusha, your racist language discredits you.
When the people fear their government there is tyranny,
when the government fears the people there is liberty.
~ Thomas Jefferson
"If only more leaders of the world had the courage and intelligence of Hugo Chavez"
In my estimation, Mr. Chavez is not necessarily uniquely intelligent...but doesn't really need to be. I do, however, observe that he is blessed with superior moral convictions...just what we need, and is rare, in a leader in today's world.
I especially do not appreciate that Mr. Chavez regularly goes on the air for hours and hours, running his mouth, with no apparent concrete purpose, believing that the people must and will be listening to him. I have information that much of the public avoids listening to his lectures/rantings.
Still, just about all he says has to do with empowering poor people to stand and be counted...he is into wealth re-distribution...probably the most progressive world leader with such an agenda.
For sure, Chavez is no rocket scientist. Still, it is undeniable that he offers one of the most progressive platforms out there in the world today.
Chavez is HOT!
And brave.
Too bad Obama is not nearly as free to push policies in which he believes as Chavez is.
The world is a better place because of Chavez.
Your post is so inconsistent. I generally love your stuff but this seems to be plagiarized and full of cut and paste. Did you post it or is there a ferret in your trousers?
Bunk!
Chavez is one of the most intelligent people on this planet.I am quoting Fidel Castro when I write that,who is another of the most intelligent people on the planet.
Just because Chavez is not white does not mean that: a) he does not have a Master's degree in Political Science--which I doubt that YOU have, or b) that he was not a prize-winning playwright and short story writer before going into politics, or c) that he did not teach at the university level for a number of years.
I suspect that he is considerably more a "rocket scientist" than most folks posting on CD. He's more of a "rocket scientist", for example, than I am--and I have an IQ of 156, a PhD and have spent most of my life teaching and running programs in universities.
Those of us who live in Latin America--especially in Venezuela and who do not speak English fluently because of their weekend shopping trips to Miami--DO appreciate
Chavez taking the trouble to communicate extensively with his people every Sunday for several hours. I and they do not have to sit in front of the tube the whole time, but can come and go with the security that Chavez is still there recommending books to read, films to see, music to listen to (some of it his own), museum shows to visit, programs to implement and evaluate and usually the program is broadcast from a state of the country that not everyone has visited.
I do agree that Chavez is hot and brave, and that the world is a better place because of him.
But I don't dig your gringocentric view of Latin America one bit.
We meet you "remediation necessitated" types from degree mills all over the world. You are fraudulent in your assessment of yourself and your professed academic achievement but your emotionalism regarding Chavez is quite impressive and accurate.
Here is a hint: don't talk about your Stanford-Binet number. It is always a chancy thing to attempt to toot your own horn with hot air. When you actually do go to school and receive a degree worth the paper it is printed on you will fully appreciate how foolish you seem right now having snatched defeat from the jaws of victory through your puffery.
Also, when you come to Miami next week to shop, would you take some of your countrymen and women back with you to your prosperous country which can afford to fly all over the world and shop in Miami? Instead of keeping all the money for yourself that your exalted position pays you, share it with the poor people who you ripped off so bad they have to come here and be supported by American citizens.
If you do that both of our countries will be much better off. Solve your own problems, don't force them to come here and ruin our country through welfare schemes and anchor babies left for me and my friends to support.
Could you do that please, and encourage all your rich exploitative friends to take your poor and disenfranchised back and repatriate them instead of racing to become the most outrageous of a consumerist society. And please give them birth control. Drop that Catholic baloney. You don't really believe in it anyway.
We have to be gringocentric. We are, after all, gringos! You are a Venezuelan and you need to clean your own nest and not throw rocks at the very people who are helping you. Chavez is a wonderful man who talks all the time because he wants to help people in Venezuela, but people like yourself who are rich and conservative are trying to assassinate him, overthrow him, and minimalize him; because if he succeeds you will have to share your bourgeois wealth with your brothers and sisters. You need to let go of that wealth made on the backs of Venezuelan poor learn that respect for Latin America begins with you. The Bolivarian Revolution is not yet complete because you are too interested in keeping your pile of chips. You are part of what was always a very smug elite who has walked on the backs of the poor since you came from Espania centuries ago. You have to learn that your time is over and Chavez's is beginning. Help him do it by being a better person yourself.
actually to those of us who actually went to college Ph.D is not a "phrase"... Go home twit and stay there.
You are not convincing anyone with that drivel. Sanchobailiff rises from the banned still puffing and puffing and puffing! Welcome back Sancho. Still unable to debate after all these years. And still so full of hate and devoid of any social responsibility. You are an amazing little twit.
Clean your nest and check your passport because you are going to need a valid one to get back into the United States. New rules as of yesterday. Better read up.
Thank you my little waiter. I'll take the burrito with the chimp meat and some chips. Relative of yours? The acidic bile is a little irritating to my gut so I'll give the rest to my Rottweiler. He loves chimps with salsa.
Why not engage in some serious dialog regarding your emigration problems down there in old Mexico. Why does everyone run for the border like a taco bell commercial? Food bad? Montezuma's revenge? Bad water. Beer made from tainted wells? What is the local issue, or is it all?
For a person with an IQ of 156 you sure do indulge in some fallacious arguments. Since I'm in favor of term limits I must be a stooge of the US corporate media, right? Since you're the expert, why don't you enlighten me as to any mistakes Hugo Chavez has made since taking office? Or isn't it possible that the man might have a flaw? I'll check back tomorrow to see your list of Hugo's imperfections, okay? Peace.
Johnny J-Rock
Ad hominem means nothing to you, does it? Your pathetic and I pity the foo'
Maybe you're the real troll working to discredit Chavez by associating him with yourself. That would make sense, unlike your rants.
Johnny J-Rock
Sanchothebailiff (latest ailias oharu9 for those just joining his latest incoherent tirade):
What a hot tempered little boy you have become. Have you checked your brain cells lately? Did you have dental surgery recently? Your brain is not getting enough oxygen maybe it was the anesthesia or maybe it was the post op antibiotics but you can't be far from angina since the dementia has already set in. Do you always get this dizzy and out of control when you encounter logical arguments?
And what a potty mouth on you! Did your parents teach you to disrespect your benefactors? And you go off on these obscene rants at the first sign of losing your newly assumed identity and fall right back into the Tourette's ranting. Stay in Mexico and pull your own plug. Nobody wants to hear you again. We disposed of your misinformation last year and the year before. You never have anything but hate in your heart and I bet you can't come back to the US even if you wanted to. There is a part of your story you are keeping from us all here who have patiently tolerated you for all these many years of obstructive behavior which amounts to nothing but insults. Is there a contract on your head? Did your big ugly mouth open too wide one too many times?
What's your story Sancho?
I agree with you about Chavez's intelligence, however Hitler was also quite intelligent and he was piece of CRAP. Jewish mom had a very good point. Morality in a leader is as important as intelligence. Please refrain from misguided attacks. She might be just as intelligent as you.
PS While my IQ is not 156, it is a healthy 148 and I found her comments to well though out.
The smartest president in US History was probably Woodrow Wilson. A bigoted, racist moron who got us involved in World War One because he was too stupid to recognize British propaganda. But, hey, he was President of Princeton before he moved up.
I will take average intelligence any day.
Was your IQ socially promoted? I find your English to be thoroughly abysmal (about 75 IQ) judging from your use of "to" instead of "too"; S/B "as you are". There are a myriad of errors in this simple post. Are you aware of what a laugh you gives us all brother man? Hugo Chavez is cultured while you are merely yogurt in a fructose wet dream.
Better not skip any more remedial classes because the whole world is laughing,
or at least 171,811 people on this network. Plus my class...I posted this on the bulletin board and we will analyze it tomorrow in class.
Are you on the wrong board? One click and there goes your cherished reputation.
Siderealm, some of us work, and while at work we do things that we are not supposed to do at WORK. Like post on CD. I had a meeting with a client and I had no time to proofread the post.
The PS should have read like this:
PS While my IQ is not 156, it is a healthy 148 and I found her comments to be well though out.
By the by, while a comment on my education would have been appropriate( errors in grammar), to assume that I'm and S/B because because of that is IDIOTIC. Furthurmore I'm not your BROTHER MAN, and if by the use of vocabulary one is to judge education my guess is that you did not make out elementary school.
PS If you have an issue with the content of the post, bring it on. But if all you want to do is complaint about the spelling or the grammar, get a life. Surely you must have something better to do with your time, than to F--k with me.
"...my IQ is...a healthy 148 and I found her comments to well though out." Thanks for the smile.
My IQ is lower than everybody here, but I still get my gas at Citgo whenever I can... because of Chavez.
IQ Tests are a poor, western-cultural-biased, measure of intelligence.
exactly, remember that book "The Bell Curve"?
Damn dude, have you noticed that most folks are on your side? I agree with many of your criticisms, but at times you seem to be venting anger, you might alienate your allies. The Right will divide and rule, beware. Not everyone is a racist fascist, and you have no idea the background of some of the posters, so go easy on the easy assumptions. Otherwise, even though many will agree with your main point, you will be discounted and seen as lacking credibility.
I wonder what Manuel Rosales, a democratically elected opposition mayor, thinks about this, as he lives in exile in Peru.
If Rosales had thought about the inconveniences of being a fugitive from justice, maybe he would not have ripped off all thosemillions from the public trough.
Ahh, so any opposition politician accused of a crime by the president is automatically guilty? I think Lopez Obrador, among many others, would beg to disagree with you. And the evidence against Rosales is about as vapid as the evidence against Lopez Obrador was.
Or I could be wrong. Would you care to lay out the evidence against Rosales?
Sympathy for el diablo?
"We are not subordinated to the bourgeoise elite but to the interests of the people," Chavez said on Saturday. "We are proceeding and will continue to proceed with nationalizations of strategic sectors."
The U.S. Defense Department (and others) could certainly learn a thing or two from Chavez. Keeping "strategic sectors" under control for the security of a country is critical. Our own Department of Defense, with our tax dollars, relies on foreign companies to supply them with some very important components related to our defense systems.
Not only is our government using our tax dollars to support corporations and jobs in other countries, it's oursourcing our security! Meanwhile, over half-a-million jobs are being lost every month here at home.
http://www.economyincrisis.org/articles/show/2820
I am an admirer of Hugo Chavez and certainly agree with his recent moves, but they make me worry. As Obama is showing an adherence to past US imperialist policies (not a dime's worth of difference from Bush in most of his foreign policy), I cannot help but be concerned that Obama and his corporatist gang will do whatever they can to prevent Chavez from providing a successful example of socialism to the world.
Is Obama thuggish enough to engage in such unspeakable acts? Apparently, given his policies so far with regard to Afghanistan and Iraq. Will he have the opportunity, given the weight of commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan and the growing solidarity in South America? Maybe not. Hopefully not.
'POWER TO THE PEOPLE'
Right On Chavez! Go man, go! Show the rest of the world that the capitalist class needs to be reined in and eventually done away with.
,
Fat Hugo Chavez is a boar (no pun intended). Powerful, dangerous and dumb. He has ruined the Venezuela. It is bankrupt, crime is rampant, middle class managers and professionals are deserting, unemployment is high, and the military is restless !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The infrastructure is breaking-down
Fat Hugo's days are few..........
The real question is how will Iran, China, Russia, and Cuba deal with his sudden demise ????????????
Good bye Fatso
,
Jam4 worry about your own fat ass. If the US continues to make bad economic decisions you will not be able to afford food or anything else. Do yourself a favor and google "weinmark republic". That's the future of Amerika. I hope you enjoy being a fascist slave.
PS Look at the bright side at least you wont be fat.
Troll alert.
Hugo's days are FEW?
Right, trollboy: He is in his ELEVENTH year in power,and he will be in power when you are diving in Safeway dumpsters because YOUR country is bankrupt and has given YOU exactly what you apparently deserve, which is NOTHING!
Goodbye, Toejam.
Can you prove what you say? Do you have any Economic reports or street reports from Venezuela to enlighten us? Do you have first hand knowledge? Or, are we just supposed to believe that JAM4 is the only authority on the subject worth listening to?
No, he's incredibly NOT credible, constantly caught lying, and likely an agent provocateur.
IGNORE the "ID ten T" ( write it out ; - )
Namaste
This is not the first time CD has run negative stuff on Chavez. I am not impressed.
"Major oil service companies such as Halliburton and Schlumberger Ltd are perhaps the largest interests now at risk of takeovers, since state oil company PDVSA has fallen behind in payments worth hundreds of millions of dollars."
When I read this sentence a chill went through me, fear for Chavez and the Venezuelan people. For this is the reason that the U.S. goes to war, and sponsors covert terrorism, to protect the interests of Halliburton and its ilk.
The biggest difference between Hugo Chavez and George W. Bush, is that after eight years George W. Bush stepped down from office. You can't have a legacy if you don't leave. No matter how much I hate George W. Bush, he did leave.
Hugo Chavez is clinging to power. He may be popular and to some degree, his authority may be legitimate, but his wheel does not roll without him, yet. This causes grave concerns about the legitimacy of his rule. The United States should not seek to control the vast oil reserves of Venezuela, but if we believe in free speech, we must be wary of those who inhibit it. This isn't about big business or big government, it's about personal liberty.
Chavez is putting himself on the wrong side of the debate about the legitmacy of power. If indeed he has created a movement of socialism and cooperation between the government, the people, and the resources of the nation, he should have at his disposal the people who are capable of replacing him. His failure to allow those people to take over the authority of government portray him as a megalomaniac who finds power as its own reward. In doing so, he denies the most fundamental rule of democracy, the freedom of the people to determine their own fate. Then, perhaps he will have a legacy.
Popular to some degree?
Today on www.aporrea.org you can confirm that his popularity is 67%.
And that's in his ELEVENTH year inpower.
I am sure the Venezuelan people, however,will run right out and overthrow him because some joker on CD said that Chavez was on the wrong side of the debate about legitimacy.
Right.
Dream on, while YOUR country goes into the crapper and you right along with it.
The article clearly states he must continue to be re-elected.
Since Bush was never legitimately elected, think Florida, supreme court, Ohio, electronic vote manipulation,
the biggest difference is that Bush was NEVER elected.
You want to debate Chavez' legacy, when the real issue raised by this article is the failure of elite control to serve the society's better interests. What exactly is elite control over production bringing to the USA? It's wiped out our choice of occupations in which we might earn a living while serving the better interests of the society. Farmers can't earn a living producing healthy food but are forced to produce frankencorn. What about the production of tools? That was shifted to China. The Bolivarian Revolution is the most inspiring development of this century and yet very few are exhibiting a capacity to celebrate it. Perhaps we're all invested in Chinese index funds? C'mon, tell the truth.
I sometimes have certain doubts about Chavez (what human is perfect?). Yet it seems to me that Chavez basically stands against the power of money to control the media and the debate. It takes one hell of a strong, forceful personality to go up against such a wall of moneyed power. Hopefully another will emerge to take Chavez's place in time, but people like that don't appear often.
Rubbish. Term limits do not exist in all democracies. We have had Prime Ministers who ran the country for 20 years. It hardly undemocratic if we vote him in again.
Would you question the legitimacy of the rule of Mackenzie King?
Let's congratulate the Venezuelan people on their courageous embrace of their own better interests, via their support for Chavez, and let's join them in celebrating the rewards they have earned in doing so.
Let's also congratulate the US citizens who have lent their support to the Venezuelan people in pursuing their Bolivarian Revolution. This has been a risk for us too. We've taken a lot of flak for standing by our far-left principles.
Our principles are worth it, and we should probably thank our far-right/centrist opponents for acting on their hubris/cowardice and showing what a catastrophe their Friedmanite capitalism can be, despite the cushions of monstrous fossil gluttony, and huge deference of debt to future generations.
The far left in the USA is focusing on bringing industrial production back to the local communities, local ownership and control of production via small enterprises, small farmers, craftsmen, and merchants. Get to work, people!
I still stand by my earlier prediction. Particularly in regard to his seizure of a rice plant several months ago.
Eventually, Chavez will have no choice but to centralize his economy. And we all know the long term consequences of central economic planning.
WORKER AND COMMUNITY CONTROL IS NOT CENTRALIZATION
Hello Massud.
Chavez is trying hard to institute various kinds of worker and community control. See www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/4478 and in general keep up with venezuelanalysis.com
In state owned businesses the law now states that workers should elect the boss. Tens of thousands of worker owned co-ops have been set up, with encouragement and training from the state. Many private businesses have instituted co-management between workers and owners. And local elected Community Councils are also setting up their own enterprises.
Whether or not worker and community control in Venezuela will ultimately triumph, however, is still an open question. Industrial bureaucrats in government owned industries are often reluctant to give up their exclusive power; and there is a struggle going on between workers and bureaucrats. Who will win depends largely on the strength and unity of the workers' movement, which up until now has been fairly fragmented.
But Venezuela is now the only country in the world in which workers' democracy has a real chance of triumphing over both capitalists and bureaucrats. If the workers succeed, the world will never be the same.
My friend, reality is slightly different than what you perceive. It's really hard to say what Chavez is trying to do, but the result at this time is very high inflation, and an economy that is definitely in crisis.
"The Economist" publishes a consensus forecast by a panel of experts, which predicts Venezuela will have the worst performance of any Latinamerican economy in the years 2009-2010 (a cumulative drop in GDP of more than 10 %).
The government, desperate for cash flow to maintain a semblance of normalcy, has been nationalizing the companies which are owed money by the state oil company, PDVSA. This nationalization has led to very high unemployment in the oil towns in areas such as the East Coast of Lake Maracaibo. Because PDVSA does not honor its contracts, this is causing a gradual migration of companies, and foreign companies are increasingly reluctant to provide services and/or invest in Venezuela. The lack of investment is one factor in the shrinking of the economy.
Another factor we must point out is the lack of serious progress in projects proposed by PDVSA to sustain oil production, or increase gas production. This lack of progress is caused by poor management at the top. One example of this lack of progress is the natural gas shortages which have led Venezuela to import this fuel from Colombia.
Finally, the World Bank has listed Venezuela as one of the most corrupt nations in the world. We must ask ourselves if Chavez' revolution is more about a different group of people lining up to eat, rather than a true change with the interest of all the people in mind.
Yeah just like the financial system here in the USA except one big difference: the centralization is in the hands of private interests. And we all know what the long-term consequences of private oligopoly leads...
Between a million and counting murdered for oil,foreclousures, Bankster Heist, Torture, No single Payer,Highest incarceration rate in World (mostly colored and poor), the USA has no Right to criticize ANYONE short of Genocide, as in Darfur and Palestine.
The GENOCIDE IN PALESTINE is the only genocide in the history of the world in which the population of the victims has been growing twice as fast as that of the perpetrators.
Please, Mr. Ford. I also hate the oppressive policy of the Israeli government, but it is not genocide. It is a conflict over land in which one side is much better armed. Mindless rhetoric, all too common unfortunately, does nothing to help solve the problem.
It just stimulates BOTH sides to be more militant.
Not to mention OUR genocide in Iraq!
Good point! Our "moral authority" is the laughingstock of the world -the height of hypocrisy, arrogance, hubris, callousness, elitism; in short: imperialism.
I love Chavez and have been able to dig for some great info on his successes- but it takes major work.
Maybe Common Dreams' editors will take the complaints to heart and start printing some less biased reports of what's happening to our south.
I'm not sure why Americans are so terrified to think about another country having better ideas and more successful systems and governments. It's bizarre. I guess maybe they are too engrossed in American Idol to care about things like tent cities sprouting up everywhere, the failure of the newspapers, our disastrous healthcare system, the fact that Obama turned out to be Bush Lite, the fact that war crimes have been committed in our name... the sales of rose -colored glasses must be way up.
We're being "softened up" so that maybe when we invade them and attempt to oust him, Amerikans, feeling armed with the facts, will think it's justified. Who knows? MSM is such a mind-f**k..
gwenhale, good to hear you too love Chavez.
I find it odd-he is probably the most progressive leader of any country on Earth.
But when I skimmed the posts I saw minimal, often qualified, respect for him expressed.
Me, I love the guy, what is not to love? He is for the people, withstood the US coup attempt aginst him, and he is so obviously for Venezuelans.
Hahaha.. "Obama turned out to be Bush Lite"
THANK YOU. Diet Bush.. exactly.
During the rise of "American Idol" I was tempted to imagine it was only satire. Just look at the name. Something big brother would cook up to fuel nationalism. Would it really be a stretch to call it fascist?
Chavez is change we CAN believe in. The elites in Latin America and the U.S. hate him and want to kill him because he believes in a level playing field. Obama could learn from him that just because you have a bunch of powerful people threatening to kill you if you don't participate in their plunder doesn't mean you should buckle to their demands. Chavez is running Venezuela like a good business which takes care of its' employees. We need to re-learn that in the U.S.A.
You and others will find this item about the current/ongoing elite confernce in Caracas that Chavez has challenged to a debate, http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/4480
Please take special note of how those elites look at the concept of property.
the debate was cancelled- the elite only wanted to debate Chavez, not parts of his administration. If i was a dictator, damn if i would allow this in Caracas but Chavez does? So does this mean my wife does not own 'our' property? Or do I not own it even though both names are on the contract? Where in the hell does democracy come into play here?
Chaves is to be commended, he is willing to debate his policies with his people, unlike the USA. I don't see Obama debating Nader, or anyone else who is not a slave to corporate Amerika. The way that our presidents have behave since Nixon is shameful.
I wonder how Reuters would have reported the story if Venezuela was in Europe, and Chaves had blond hair and blue eyes. In most industrialized countries vital industries are under the control of the state(health care, utilities, central bank, and certain aspects of transportation). Investors are like ticks on a dog. Too many ticks sucking the life blood of the beast and the end result is the death of the dog. This analogy may be crude, but the US citizen is being eaten alive by the profit margin these corporations extort from the public.
I'm not a supporter of Marxism, but I think that Chaves, Correa(Ecuador's president)and Morales are modeling their revolution as a socialist democracy, the same type of government that most countries in Europe use. Unlike the old Marxists like Castro that took over in a violent revolution and killed the dissidents because their ideas were dangerous, these new presidents have modeled their administrations after the Allende government.
I hope that Americans open their eyes to the possibility of the new left. This country cannot sustain the thefts that the duopoly(Dems and Repugs) have forced down our throats. The latest example of this is the bailout of the financial industry. This is nothing more than a massive transfer of wealth from the people who work for a living, to the people who live of their investments. These thieving corporations have to be dissolved not rewarded for their theft. Obama is owned by the same people who owned W. The only CHANGE so far is that obama sticks it to you with a smile instead of a smirk. The end result is much the same.
http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/venezuela-2009-02.pdf this is probably the one you read since it came out a few months ago- the prior pdf was from '07.
CEPR is also greatly funded by the ford foundation. Yea- statistics are tricky:
lies, damn lies and statistics but they do run along side what Venezuelanalysis states, chavez still has a strong backing among the poor (we'll see how this goes with the recession) and even if you cut what cepr states in half, it's still pretty fascinating. The only one who benefits from the CEPR report is Chavez and Ven's govt unless you can name more.
I agree with you. I was amazed when I read the 2007 CEPR's "The Venezuelan Economy in the Chávez Years." I will have to read the new one that you posted.
Just to clarify: I wasn't arguing against the CEPR article... I was just pointing out something that I try to do with ANY economic analysis. Especially after reading stuff about how the US gov't takes bad statistics and changes the rules to make it look good. (for example: Clinton changing the definition of unemployment to make the percentage look favorable)
I agree with you as well- I question everything I read! Using GDP as an economic indicator is insane as it is. If drugs were legalized, it would create a huge dent in US GDP. If divorces came to a screeching halt among the many christians in the US, GDP would take another huge dent (court costs, attorney fees, two junk filled residents instead of one). It does seem the Chavez govt is top down and until I feel it's bottom up i'll be skeptical. The reason I use CEPR is that even if it's only half right, it's still incredible. It's also amazing at the amount of fallacies in the arguments of the PSUV opposition which tells you something as well.
I must also state I do not mind these articles. I can read between the lies, and the SPIN the mainstream media tries to put on such stories is INFORMATIVE.
Exactly Mr North,
I feel the same way. It's good to have broad coverage at CD. The first thing I do is pin my eyes on the author or source. Then I know what the quality is likely to be. I don't go to Fox or Rueter's for this dribble, because I don't want to support them. I want their website traffic to dry up and die.
TJ
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." - Thomas Jefferson
I don't criticize CD for printing this article. It's better to know what your enemy is up to. I don't spend enough time in the MSM sewer anyway.
When the people fear their government there is tyranny,
when the government fears the people there is liberty.
~ Thomas Jefferson
Why not just stop funding this site, then, and go directly to the MiamiMafia-funded Miami Herald site?
Or Fox News?
If CD is going to just become a reprint site for hate speech, it is completely redundant.
richsmith, I think we should spend more time worrying about our own freedom and economic safety than Venezuela. Chavez is trying to improve the lives of the poor and he's fighting a vicious right wing. Here in our country the right wing is running the show. Emptying our treasury into their pockets and not allowing the words "single payer" to escape anyone's lips, even to the extent of arresting doctors and nurses who try to do so. Seriously which looks better to you? What Chavez is doing or what we're doing?
Meanwhile the public can't take it's eyes off American Idol long enough to even see what is happening.
When the people fear their government there is tyranny,
when the government fears the people there is liberty.
~ Thomas Jefferson
Common dreams has been at the forefront of progressive news.
My comment is not directed at them-but at the authors of this article.
Even though. we on the left sometimes resist this, the others' viewpoint needs to be presented to strengthen our resourceful dissent and allow all opinions to circulate.
It our duty to correct the misperceptions and lies inherent in these opinions.
It may be YOUR duty to correct all the excrement smeared against Venezuela by the MSM.
But I am getting tired of the media warfare being actively supported on THIS site.
Folks have complained every time they have reprionted this hate speech, and they just keep doing it.
One hate speech against Chavez cancels out a month of decent reprints by Zinn, C homsky, Hedges et al.
At least for this outraged poster.
Some (Nate) of ya'll might want to read this:
http://www.cepr.net/index.php/publications/reports/the-venezuelan-economy-in-the-chavez-years/
I read this report a few months ago and was very impressed with the economic indicators showing that the Venezuelan economy was improving incredibly under Chavez.
The only thing I questioned was that the statistics and sources, used by the American economists, are almost all from the Venezuelan gov't. I'm not saying they are false, but I can't help but wonder how accurate these gov't stats are. I guess my skepticism is based on my distrust of all gov'ts.
I always try to ask myself these two questions when reading an economic analysis:
--Who is funding the economists?
--Who benefits from the results of the economic analysis?
Economist Ravi Batra said it well when he adapted his version of Twain to...
"There are lies, damn lies, and economists!"
OOOOOOOOH, racism rears its head again on CD, methinks.
You say that you distrust all governments, yet I don't see you questioning the government reports from the US, from France, from Finland.
Yet Venezuela's you question--because it's in the Third World and the majority of its people are BROWN?
The UN is not questioning those reports, BTW.
A simple glance at other stats shows the Gini coefficient for the US at slightly over 47 (exactly the same as MEXICO), while Venezuela's Gini has gone down under Chavez from 48 to 42.
If it walks like a duck, and quacks, I am disinclined to call it a submarine.
"OOOOOOOOH, racism rears its head again on CD, methinks."
You are wrong, and I don't appreciate your assumption. I think that you have taken my words and twisted them to fit into your viewpoint that we are all out to bash S. America and it's socialist policies. I understand that you are trying to protect the movement that is happening in S. America, and please do! But, maybe find a more constructive way to do it. I'm not out to get you. I actually love what is happening in S. America. In fact, I am flying down to Ecuador in a few months to volunteer my service in helping restore the damaged areas of the cloud forest region. I am also coming down to try to understand and witness first hand the developments of an awesome political movement, and hopefully in this process I will better understand Ecuadorian culture and make a difference in the environment as well.
"You say that you distrust all governments, yet I don't see you questioning the government reports from the US, from France, from Finland."
Most likely you don't see me questioning the gov't reports from the US, France, Finland, etc., in this post because I am writing about the linked economic report - which is about Venezuela. If the report in question was about Finland then I would be questioning it the same as this one. Also, I question ALL governments because I am an anarchist... got that?
Again, I'm all for the socialist movement in S. America... so please try to find a better way to argue your cause and not attack every poster on CD.
Take care.
I don't attack EVERY poster on CD.
I do attack those who are ignorant, yet insist onposting MSM disinformation and propaganda.
It's great that you are going to volunteer in Ecuador--where I have done two "tours of duty" as a cultural exchange specialist in educational programs.
BUT, please be advised that it is prohibited by Ecuador's constitution for foreigners to shoot off their mouths about the country's politics. Here in the region folks do not take kindly to the knowitall gringo attitude, exemplified by folks who want to "make a difference" like you posted that you aimed to do.
Ecuador has a very activemovement of indigenous peoples--whose wisdom about how to repair the damage done to their country by sellout presidents and gringo multinational companies such as Chevron is far superior to that of any green volunteer.
Rather than going there to tell them what they should be doing, I suggest you go there to LISTEN to the wisdom of the elders and follow THEIR guidance.
My apology for saying that you attack every poster. And, I agree with you about this crappy article that was posted - see my above post.
Orahu9: "Rather than going there to tell them what they should be doing, I suggest you go there to LISTEN to the wisdom of the elders and follow THEIR guidance."
---Thank you kindly for the advice. Your suggestion is something that I will take to heart and already plan on doing.
Orahu9: "Ecuador has a very activemovement of indigenous peoples--whose wisdom about how to repair the damage done to their country by sellout presidents and gringo multinational companies such as Chevron is far superior to that of any green volunteer."
---My hope is that the program I am volunteering for (La Hesperia) will give me a chance to listen and learn from the people. The program is based on exactly what you write about... "how to repair the damage done to their country." I am going as a student to learn, and not to pontificate.
---I know - all to well - about the "know-it-all gringo attitude" that you speak of. It permeates through almost the entire US culture, and I find it absolutely disgusting. Plus, if you were to meet me you would quickly realize that I am the complete opposite of an "arrogant know-it-all."
Take care!
I very much appreciate this website and the work done here at Common Dreams. But I share in the puzzlement expressed by many in these comments as to why CD would so consistently post such blatant disinformation about the actions and policies of Chavez.
It would help if the people from CD wrote and posted an explanation in their own words.
They have consistently reprinted anti-Chavez rants--even from the Miami Herald, for God's sake.
And this despite the fact that Venezuelanalysis.com publishes reasoned analyses on a daily basis--in English--many from on the ground in Venezuela.
I stand by my theory that Common Dreams is dirty.
Who wrote this uninformed right-wing garbage?
Maybe it is time that the people took over Reuters and the other propaganda conduits for
the global empire !
While I am a huge fan of Chavez, I fear that moves such as undermining the independence of the military and the power of duly elected opposition party members in Venezuelan public office may damage the chances of his nation developing into a healthy democratic society. Chavez may himself be a well intended and progressive leader with the best interests of the Venezuelan people in mind, but without strong and stable legal, social, and political institutions of governance in place, the next national leader to step into his place could easily mutate into a less well intended dictator. If I were a Venezuelan, that is something I would be worried about.
I believe military is supposed to be subordinate to civilian in a Democracy.
But you aren't a Venezuelan, now, are you?
Those of us who live in Latin America are pretty darn tired of gratuitous concern from folks in the US.
Well said, although in his defense, we (the posters here) are not a bourgeois mouthpiece like CNN, expressing its gratuitous "concern" over Venezuelan "democracy"; we are a discussion board for at least moderately progressive people. If we can't critically discuss Chavez here, there aren't a lot of places we can.
But I agree that it smells funny given the long history of U.S. military and covert imperialist crimes against Latin America. I would be a lot more comfortable with the criticism taking place if there wasn't such a large majority of Americans posting here--it is easy to get into groupthink and let the MSM line go unchallenged. I have indeed seen some truly disgusting lies about Venezuela made by CD posters in the past.
Well that's fair and balanced news reporting. And that here on CD. The oil companies privatized are the kind of companies that divided profit like this: 90% to the USA and 10% to their own bankaccounts. And that TV station continously sends out propaganda showing you the benefits of slavery and that Chavez is a nazi.
I like the guy, he has delivered heating oil to some villages in Alaska that are forced to pay exhorbitant prices, and even as an oil state, do you think our government or corporate leaders would mandate some reasonable cost? No way...and Exxon still got away with destroying the environment and thousands of lives here after the oil spill with a veritable slap on the wrist and the Supreme Court on their side. If we are to survive as a species, we will have to work together, and NOT for profit driven destruction for earth and it's creatures, including us.(Wow, what a concept!)