Reply #8: I don't consider myself a Venezuela expert... [View All]

[HooptieWagon]

... however, i've been there and have several Venezuelan friends.

Venezuela is like most, if not all, the Central and South American countries in that there is a vast divide between the haves and have-nots. There is not as large a middle class as in the US or European nations, although the size of the middle class varies from country to country. Venezuela has a small group of wealthy elites who control the business interests , hold most of the land and formerly the political power. An almost as small middle class own small businesses or work for high salaried jobs. The large majority of people are in some degree of poverty, ranging from barely struggling to make ends meet to absolute destitution. Working class wages are very low. Chavez claims to represent those poor, and IMO his actions give some credence to that claim:

He worked a deal with Cuba for oil in exchange for Cuban doctors to come to Venezuela to treat the poor, who previously had no medical care.

Chavez provided cinder blocks and morter to the poor people in Caracas who were literally living in cardboard shacks, so they could build themselves adequate housing.

Venezuelan government uses some of oil revenues to subsidize food prices, so everyone can afford to eat. Oil is nationalized (CITGO) and the oil fields (mostly in and around Lake Maricaibo) are big employers paying fairly good wages by Venezuelan standards.

Chavez seized unused farmland from wealthy landowners, and distributed it in small plots to farmers so they could support their families.

There are several other examples that I can't think of right now, but of similar type.

I wouldn't call Chavez fault-free. Many aspects of his rule are dictatorial, even if they are to benefit the poor. He tends to be heavy-handed clamping down on dissenting press. He also tends to clamp down on political opposition, probably wisely since most of his political opposition is funded by US corporate and government interests who'd like to see Chavez out of the picture.

So, Chavez can't be judged in black or white criteria, but as a shade of grey. Some bad to go along with the good. A bit of communism, a bit of socialism, a bit of populism, a bit of military dictatorship... probably pretty similar to his buddy Castro. Under current conditions, Chavez is probably as good as it can get for Venezuelan leadership in his programs for the poor and resisting US corp/World Bank takeover of Venezuela's resources. In another time, maybe he wouldn't be so good.