Big Trouble in Little Venezulea

Filed under: Venezuela

Venezuelans waited to buy subsidized food last month in San Antonio de Tachira.

These should be the best of times for Venezuela, blessed with the largest conventional oil reserves outside the Middle East and oil prices near record highs. But this country's economic and social problems have become so acute lately that President Hugo Chavez is facing an unusual onslaught of criticism, even from his own supporters, about his management of the country. In a rare turnabout, it is Mr. Chavez's opponents who appear to have the political winds at their backs as they reverse policies of abstention and prepare dozens of candidates for pivotal regional elections. Mr. Chavez, for perhaps the first time since a recall vote in 2004, is increasingly on the defensive as his efforts to advance Venezuela toward socialism are seen as failing to address a growing list of worries like violent crime and shortages of basic foods.

Will the Bush administration allow this golden opportunity to pass by unnoticed? Can the people of Venezuela snatch victory from the jaws of Chavez?

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wait a minute... says:

did your apelike cranium ever stop to think for a second that, if high oil prices aren't enough to lift venezuela's economy, then maybe vladimir putin is doing something right in managing russia's economy?
you, and others, always say that russia's recent boom is only fueled by oil, but there are many countries (nigeria, venezuela, and iran most clearly) where high oil prices haven't translated into anything near the growth that russia has seen.
of course, you'll label me an "apologist"
or traitor or something, i'd really like to know, though, what you think of this question

La Russophobe says:

Russia's economy hasn't been lifted, you ape.

Russians are dying off at an alarming rate and working for less than $4 per hour on average. Venezulea is well ahead of Russia in length of average male life:

http://russophobe.blogspot.com/2008/01/united-nations-development-program-has.html

The difference between Chavez and Putin is that Chavez isn't a professional spy, and hence he is less able to suppress the population and hide the facts of his incompetence. It's also the case that there is more hope for change in Venezuela because it's people are far more courageous and civic-minded, as street protest data clearly shows.

Your pea-brained attempt at propaganda is an embarrassment, utterly pathetic.

well done! says:

"Russia's economy hasn't been lifted, you ape."

Wow LR, in terms of sheer audacity this lie is really quite impressive, far better than the piddling stuff you usually propagate!

From the World Bank 2007 Report:

Russian economic performance remains robust. Having grown by 7.9 percent (year on year) in the first half of the year, Russia is likely to post full-year GDP growth of over 7 percent in 2007. Output growth was driven by rising domestic demand, in particular, buoyant household consumption and business investment. On the supply side, sectors servicing the domestic demand (construction and retail trade) continued to boom.

(you can also read the full report)
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/ECAEXT/RUSSIANFEDERATIONEXTN/0,,menuPK:305605~pagePK:141159~piPK:141110~theSitePK:305600,00.html

Now I suppose you can define "lifted" as "surpassed the wealthy Western countries" but that's not exactly realistic. This year Russia has finally succeeded in surpassing its 1989 output levels (a figure which in itself is dubious because of the unreliability of Soviet figures). Now, some rational people might call 7% growth for the better part of a decade OK or, gasp!, even somewhat impressive.

PS
Kim, since Venezuela's GDP per capita is less than Russia's, your civic-minded and democratic Venezuelans work for even less money per hour than the barbaric and evil Russians

La Russophobe says:

Venezuela had 10.6% economic growth in 2006, much higher than Russia's, and 5.5% in 2007, very impressive.

http://www.frbatlanta.org/econ_rd/americas_center/ac_invoke.cfm?objectid=BD3DC00B-5056-9F12-12AACCF6E50FEEEA&method=display_body

The point isn't abstract GDP numbers, it is how well the government is serving the needs of the people. That is the only "economy" that matters. Any country will show marginal GDP growth when oil prices accidentally spike and it has lots of oil. But as Michael McFaul has clearly shown, the Russian government has betrayed its people just as Venezuela's has done in totally failing to take advantage of the price spike by bettering people's real lives:

http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20080101faessay87105/michael-mcfaul-kathryn-stoner-weiss/the-myth-of-the-authoritarian-model.html

Your attempt to claim I am biased while being so overwhelmingly one-sided yourself indicates that you simply cannot be taken seriously. You rationalize failure in Russia, and as such are far more dangerous to the people of the country than any "enemy" ever could be.

Why do you hate Russia so much?

brilliant! says:

"Why do you hate Russia so much?" a higher base)?
I don't, you do.

"The point isn't abstract GDP numbers"
So why did you post a link from the Fed with ONLY GDP numbers?

"Venezuela had 10.6% economic growth in 2006, much higher than Russia's, and 5.5% in 2007, very impressive."

Why is Venezuela's 5.5% growth in 2007 more "impressive" than Russia's 8.1% growth from a larger base? And why is Venezuela's 3.8% projected growth for 2008 more impressive than Russia's projected 6.5% (also from a larger base)

You've gone from saying that "Russia's economy hasn't been lifted you ape"
to saying
"Any country will show marginal GDP growth when oil prices accidentally spike and it has lots of oil"

These are, as you can see, rather different statements, care to connect them into a coherent whole?

"But as Michael McFaul has clearly shown, the Russian government has betrayed its people just as Venezuela's has done in totally failing to take advantage of the price spike by bettering people's real lives"

You won't hear me argue that Venezuela's government hasn't failed its people (remember, I agree on that point!) but I fail to see how boosting real wages by an average of 10% a year for the better part of a decade is "failure." Is it a complete and final success? No, and I don't know one person, including Putin himself, who would argue otherwise. However, compared to 1998 when upwards of 70% of economic exchanges were barter, today's situation can be looked upon as something of a success (regardless of what McFaul says)

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Big Trouble in Little Venezulea

Filed under: Venezuela

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