On 3/2/07, Jim Devine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ben_whitford/2007/03/chvez_is_no_castro.html
Chávez is no Castro
Neither the excesses nor the achievements of the Venezuelan leader are
in the same béisbol-park as his cigar-puffing neighbour.
Ben Whitford
March 1, 2007 9:30 PM
<snip>
Chávez, with far greater resources and in the face of far fewer
obstacles, has accomplished far less. He has presided over a period of
enormous wealth - oil was $12 a barrel when he took office, and stands
at over $60 a barrel today - but has little to show for it besides a
hundred thousand AK47s and a hefty stack of frequent flyer miles [from
Chávez's globe-trotting diplomacy]. By some measures social spending
has actually decreased under Chávez; poverty is still rampant;
inflation remains high; more than a million Venezuelans remain
illiterate; corruption is rife; crime rates are rocketing.
As far as I know, crime (as well as some police officers that the
Chavez government inherited from the previous regime) and inflation
are indeed big problems. And it is true that a lot of Venezuelans are
still poor. But what is Ben Whitford expecting? It is not possible
to transform any country's social and economic structure overnight.
Moreover, Whitford forgets that the Chavez government suffered a
setback in 2002-2003 (see below), due to the opposition's sabotage,
and it has had to make up for that. It's only in 2005 when Venezuela
managed to get back out of the hole and come back to the 1999 level
(when Chavez assumed presidency).
As for AK47s and other weapons purchases, thye are not only necessary
to make Venezuela less dependent on US-made military hardware but also
help it grow its friendship with Russia.
<http://www.cepr.net/publications/venezuelan_poverty_rates_2006_05.pdf>
Issue Brief • May 2006
Poverty Rates in Venezuela:
Getting the Numbers Right
MARK WEISBROT, LUIS SANDOVAL, AND DAVID ROSNICK
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
TABLE 1
Venezuela: Poverty Rates, 1997-2005
Year Time Households People
Period Below Below
Poverty Poverty
Line (%) Line (%)
1997 1st half 55.6 60.94
2nd half 48.1 54.48
1998 1st half 49.0 55.44
2nd half 43.9 50.40
1999 1st half 42.8 49.99
2nd half 42.0 48.69
2000 1st half 41.6 48.31
2nd half 40.4 46.34
2001 1st half 39.1 45.51
2nd half 39.0 45.38
2002 1st half 41.5 48.13
2nd half 48.6 55.36
2003 1st half 54.0 61.00
2nd half 55.1 62.09
2004 1st half 53.1 60.15
2nd half 47.0 53.90
2005 1st half 42.4 48.80
2nd half 37.9 43.70
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Yoshie
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