My condolences to the people of Venezuela

[arraamis]

WTF are you talking about? Based on what? Chavez has been the best thing that happened to the poor people in Venezuela. He has won 14 out of 15 elections with big margins and he submits himself to a revocation of mandate elections if the people don't want want him he leaves, tell me of a so called democratic nation that does this? They don't need your condolences. That's why 2 million people took the streets in 2002 with the coup d'etat. There are bad things in his government but I would love to have a guy like him in our poor country rather than these oligarchs that do nothing for the 60+ million people in Mexico that live with 5 dolars a day.

You live in Florida so it's understandable you are being brainwashed by the opposition.

Can't say I disagree with this post at all .... The US paints Chavez as a tyrant, but in actuality, he's done a lot of good for Venezuela -- He's just not a foreign leader that grabs his ankles whenever the US tries to screw him.

[-Johannes-]

Because he's destroyed the country. The poor are voting that way because socialism always sounds enticing to the ignorant and poor. Since they were not getting any justice in the old regime, they figure socialism sounds a lot better.

Reality is, Chavez is screwing the country and them at the same time. Just look at the numbers and what Venezuela has become, it was once one of the best countries in South America and now it's one of the worst.

The Venezuelan people are a lot smarter than you are giving them credit. It's not like the concept is new. Is over a decade old they have seen improvements. There are bad things as to ANY country in the world but saying they're worse than before is utter BS.

The last sentence is a complete lie.

[Cuauhtémoc1520]

Can't say I disagree with this post at all .... The US paints Chavez as a tyrant, but in actuality, he's done a lot of good for Venezuela -- He's just not a foreign leader that grabs his ankles whenever the US tries to screw him.

The Venezuelan people are a lot smarter than you are giving them credit. It's not like the concept is new. Is over a decade old they have seen improvements. There are bad things as to ANY country in the world but saying they're worse than before is utter BS.

The last sentence is a complete lie.

You can deny it as much as you want but the numbers don't lie. The violence in Venezuela has sky rocketed. Also, Venezuela has a higher poverty rate than most countries in South America, it's over 30%.

He's also socialized most companies, and trying to do it to Polar (the beer company) which also is one of the biggest providers of food to the country as well. If that happens, Venezuela is in serious trouble.

For a country with so much oil, it's in economic ruin. He spends on military hardware, takes from the rich and have run them out of the country. Socialized private companies and changed the constitution to fit his needs.

It's amazing how you people are in denial. Answer my question, where in Venezuela do you live? Or are you just wearing your che guevara shirt and thinking it's the cool thing to do?

[-Johannes-]

You can deny it as much as you want but the numbers don't lie. The violence in Venezuela has sky rocketed. Also, Venezuela has a higher poverty rate than most countries in South America, it's over 30%.

He's also socialized most companies, and trying to do it to Polar (the beer company) which also is one of the biggest providers of food to the country as well. If that happens, Venezuela is in serious trouble.

For a country with so much oil, it's in economic ruin. He spends on military hardware, takes from the rich and have run them out of the country. Socialized private companies and changed the constitution to fit his needs.

It's amazing how you people are in denial. Answer my question, where in Venezuela do you live? Or are you just wearing your che guevara shirt and thinking it's the cool thing to do?

I don't live there, like you I know Venezuelan people because I have them in my family.

I already stated CEPAL source to unemployment and poverty rate. What's yours? I'm not denying it I'm posting numbers from a real commision not a number I pulled out of my ass.

You can try to insult me with the Guevara bullshit but it's useless because I'm backing my numbers and you are claiming that poverty rate higher than before is just awful lies and it's debunkable by doing a quick google search. I don't even have to cite at Venezuelan site. here look:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/economia/...zuela_lf.shtml. Go ahead and do your homework.

Also, I rather believe people that live there look at the improvements in Carabobo and that whole no improvements in life's condition is bullcrap.

[-Johannes-]

Your condolences for the choice of Venezuelans? They elected again. If he was so bad why the people chose him again?

Can't say I disagree with this post at all .... The US paints Chavez as a tyrant, but in actuality, he's done a lot of good for Venezuela -- He's just not a foreign leader that grabs his ankles whenever the US tries to screw him.

There's a reason Venezuela was really unheard of before Chavez. They do this defamation to everyone trying to really change things in Latin America. In Mexico's 2006 and 2012 elections they did everything in their power to keep things the way they are and calumanted and slandered Lopez Obrador with childish shit that people like Cuauh bought and ate it up.

I'm off to school Cuauh. Te recomiendo que hagas tu tarea.

[arraamis]

You can deny it as much as you want but the numbers don't lie. The violence in Venezuela has sky rocketed. Also, Venezuela has a higher poverty rate than most countries in South America, it's over 30%.

He's also socialized most companies, and trying to do it to Polar (the beer company) which also is one of the biggest providers of food to the country as well. If that happens, Venezuela is in serious trouble.

For a country with so much oil, it's in economic ruin. He spends on military hardware, takes from the rich and have run them out of the country. Socialized private companies and changed the constitution to fit his needs.

It's amazing how you people are in denial. Answer my question, where in Venezuela do you live? Or are you just wearing your che guevara shirt and thinking it's the cool thing to do?

I never stated that Chavez was a noble, honorable, God-Like creature -- Just that he has done a lot of good for Venezuela. I don't think it would be fair to diminish all the good things he's done for his country, just because of some of the bad things he's done ... He's both good for the country and bad in certain ways -- That, IMHO is a fair assessment.

[Kris Silver]

The price of petrol has gone up x10 since he came into power.

He's funnelled loads of money into social issues ok great.

But are those investments anywhere near improving at an even similar ratio to the amount of income the Governments had?

No.

OK he's not giving money to the rich and doing over the poor. But he's wasted absolutely billions worth of money in failed projects and waste.

Every channel had to air him for like 2-3 hours a day whilst his opponent got 2-3 minutes of pre-records air time.

He gets away with far too much just under the cover of giving more money to the poor.

[Jim Jeffries]

Hugo Chavez net worth 1 billion dollars, "earned" during a 12 year stint leading an oil rich country where 30% of the population currently lives on less than 2 bucks a day. What a hero!

http://www.celebritynetworth.com/ric...vez-net-worth/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuela

[Cuauhtémoc1520]

Those sources come from the Venezuelas National Statistics Institute. I don't buy their legitimacy at all. What I do see is many Venezuelans moving OUT of Venezuela and coming to the U.S. While scores of private companies are being simply TOOK by the govt because they feel like it.

There's BILLIONS tied up in Venezuelan banks that the govt will not release. It's hurt the economy very badly.

http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/1763

Here is a more honest view of what is really happening in Venezuela. Here are some quotes from leading economists and press from around the world.

Despite hundreds of billions of dollars in oil revenue -- $49 billion last year alone -- and social spending that includes free medical services, the country's poor are poorer, schools have not improved and the general standard of living has declined, according to a recent United Nations Human Development Report.”

“Critics accuse Chavez of becoming increasingly authoritarian and dangerously dividing this South American nation of 26 million along class lines. They say his left-leaning policies have increased poverty in the world's fifth-largest oil exporter.”

“In Chavez's Venezuela, the [poverty] rate has risen from 43 percent in 1999, the year he took office, to 53 percent last year, according to government statistics. During this same period Venezuelan oil revenue, which makes up most of the government's income, roughly doubled.”

“Available data of these measures’ effect are mixed and not altogether reliable. According to the Venezuelan government’s National Institute of Statistics, poverty rose from 43 to 54 percent during Chávez’s first four years in office . . . The government has also just changed its methodology for measuring poverty to reflect improvements in non-income criteria such as access to health services and education, which, it argued, were not reflected in past figures.”

Irked by the numbers, the president ordered a change in INE's "methodology". Shortly after, it announced that, in mid-2005, only 39.5 per cent of people lived in poverty - a 14.5 point "improvement" in a few months.”

When you control everything in your country, you can manipulate any number you want. Fact is, the standard of living has significantly dropped in Venezuela because of Chavez.

[sinclair]

My condolences to the RICH people of Venezuela.