As you might have heard, Hugo Chavez has nationalized strategic companies including foreign-operated oil fields, the EDC (electricity) and even TV channels (CMT and now RCTV).
A couple months ago, with the announcement of the nationalization of EDC, Hugo Chavez announced that he was also going to nationalize CANTV (telecommunications), in order to achieve what he calls "Socialism of the century XXI".
La Compania Nacional Telefonica de Venezuela, or CANTV, was created in 1930 by the Venezuelan goverment. In 1990, after 60 years of existence, it had become the most notoriously inefficient state-owned enterprise and had an outstanding debt of 600 million dollars.
In 1991, the goverment created and carried out a plan to privatize CANTV; by the year 2002 CANTV was already a profitable company and considered one of the most advanced and important companies in Latin America.
The truth is... Venezuela is a one man show. Hugo Chavez was granted special powers by the National Assembly to create and modify laws in order to achieve the goals of the revolution. (I would like to mention that the opposition refused to participate in the elections for the spots on the National Assembly. Only 20% of registered voters participated and elected a National Assembly where every single member is Pro-Chavez). With this new found power (since January 2007) he has basically acted like a modern era Caesar, dictating new laws and speaking about what he wants for the country on his weekly Sunday TV and Radio show "Alo Presidente".
For the last 8 years, Hugo Chavez forged alliances with leftist movements inside and outside of the American continent. Granting large sums of money, financing and oil as "foreign help" and "social plans", he bought the allegiance of presidents Nestor Kichner (Argentina), Evo Morales (Bolivia), Rafael Correa (Ecuador) and Daniel Ortega (Nicaragua). Chavez has also strengthened bi-lateral relations with Brazil and Chile by offering oil at discounted prices and calls Fidel Castro (Cuba's 40 year dictator) his "adoptive father".
This alliances have fulfilled his needs for support when the situations required them, such as during the "coup" of 2002, the Referendum in 2004, the Elections in 2006 and more recently with the closing of RCTV. When dissident voices have been heard, the block of Chavez "Petroallies" (as I like to call them) have answered the call by declaring every single electoral process "clean and flawless" and the illegal close of RCTV as "democratic".
Perhaps, Chavez' best move was to support Jose Miguel Insulza for the position of secretary of the OAS (Organization of American States) and as a future presidential candidate for Chile. This man, has betrayed the democratic charter and turned his face away every time an issue involving Venezuela has been brought up to the international organization; an organization which was supposedly created to protect "Fairness & Democracy in the Americas".
While the rest of the world opens its borders to capitalism and free market economies, Chavez is closing the borders of Venezuela and making the Venezuelan economy more dependent upon goverment entities. This same goverment entities are an array of tools that can also be used to control the life of Venezuelans and destroy anyone who dares to oppose him. If you work for any goverment related companies you will dress in red, think in red and vote for red.
Just a few days after Chavez's allies and the OAS declared the 2006 presidential elections in Venezuela as "One of the most democratic in the continent", Hugo Chavez announced that the ex-president of the National Electoral Committee or CNE (the one who the opposition accouses of orchestrating the fraud of the 2004 Referendum) was now the new Vice-President of the republic. The opposition candidates (which are now believed to have been paid off by the goverment) did not make any announcement related to the subject... the dissident voices... once again were ignored.
Now, while the country is sunk into a crisis over the illegal closure of RCTV, the goverment works day and night to guarantee that everything works as it should. Since the goverment assumed control of CANTV they have announced a reduction on prices of 20%. What the goverment did not announce was that key personnel from the CNE (National Electoral Committee) was now key personnel at CANTV. Most Venezuelans have yet to realize what the nationalization of CANTV means...
I ask.. how are we supposed to have and believe in democratic elections once again?
How are we supposed to trust our institutions when the president of the National Electoral Committee is now the Vice President of the republic.
Will Chavez really destroy Venezuela?
Will we follow the same fate as Cuba?
One look at the supermarket will provide part of the answer: There is no meat, there are no eggs, there is no butter and milk is scarce. In many places you are only allowed to buy a certain amount because the supply is just not enough.... this had never happened before.
God help us.... because our brothers and sisters from the rest of the world are too busy looking in the opposite way.
3 comments:
Why should large corporations own and take the profits from socially necessary modes of production?
This canard that the 'state' runs everything in to the ground is a baseless--it reflects the fact that rapacious private sector capitalists corrupt the state, in capitalist countries ruled the elites they control, and OWN, the state.
Good for the Venezuelan people if industries are nationalized and poverty levels are significantly decreased.
Class hieararchies are inherently oppressive. The Venezulean people have every right to challenged the entrenched class powers that are aligned with US imperialism and impoverish Latin American people.
Crackers
When you ask "Why should large corporations own and take the profits from socially necessary modes of production?" I ask you back, "Why the government should be the owner of those large corporation and take the profits without consulting with the people?"
For keep quoting you "in capitalist countries ruled the elites they control, and OWN, the state" and in socialist countries the state owns everything, even the lives and the rights of their citizens.
"Good for the Venezuelan people if industries are nationalized and poverty levels are significantly decreased".Indeed! But the second part... about poverty levels.. is just not happening my friend.
"The Venezulean people have every right to challenged the entrenched class powers that are aligned with US imperialism and impoverish Latin American people". Indeed! but you are forgetting a couple of things: is not the Venezuelan people who is acting, only the government despite the Venezuelan people. And those class hieararchies are also part of the Venezuelan people. Exclussion its a crime that cant go on both sides. About being aligned to the US imperialism... I don't know much about that my friend, I'll let you now if my I ever recieve a pay check from the CIA... I'm still waiting...
Those US imperialism arguments always makes me laugh bigtime.
PS: Excuses about the grammar and spelling mistakes, my english is very poor.
Socialism is an utopia.
All men and women are not born equal and/or in equal conditions. Its a fact that cant be argued against. However the biggest problem in socialist governments (Specially 3rd world countries) is the so called "Socialists" that run the goverment.
Chavez has 2 children studying in the US, his brother and father are high rank goverment officials and he bought the most important farm of his state. Is that socialism?
Rolls Royce has sold 200 $1 Million dollar cars in Venezuela during the year 2007. Is that socialism?
At least in the US Empire, there is employment and poverty is low. Everyone has access to education.
In Venezuela "street sellers" are considered by the goverment as "employed" and the public school system is horrible. Poverty is still at the same level, just that the goverment is measuring it differently.
The reason large corporations should own and take profit from socially necessary modes of production is because they make the "modes of production" run properly, be profitable and offer better services, users benefit from competition.
US is not responsible for poverty in Venezuela.
Venezuelans are. There is no excuse for a country that is SO rich to not spend money on developing its society.
I suggest you go ahead and read the whole post in the blog. Because you obviously did not, or have reading comprehension problems.
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