May 31 2006
So what’s the deal with Chavez?
Ok, so this Hugo Chavez thing is really sticking in my craw, mostly because of the amount of people I know who think this guy is the best thing since sliced bread. I know you’ve heard me rant about it many times before, but I’m quite disgusted by the fact that many of us on the American Left are so easily enamored with murderous anti-capitalist Latin American dictators, mainly because, I believe, an astounding lack of any true revolutionaries that make an impact here at home.
Now, this is tricky. Although my knowledge of it is limited (but still growing), I support the principles of the Bolivarian revolution that is underway in South America, namely the idea of the region forging ahead with its own destiny and giving the big f-you to western imperialism. I believe that the natural resources should be used to primarily benefit the citizens of the country, not the big extraction companies. But, here’s the tricky part… lip service. As you well know, many of the ideas of Marxism look good on paper… namely that of a more egalitarian society, etc., yet so few of them ever seem to come out that way, due to both human nature and wanton abuses of power. Sadly, what is going on in Venezuala seems to show those problems.
It is really hard to get good, truthful information regarding this. There is so much propaganda and bullshit coming from both sides, it’s really hard to make heads or tales of much of it. I’ve been doing some digging around, and over the next week, am hoping to shed some light on this. I was originally going to do it all in one post, but to do it justice, I think it needs to be spread out over several to give it the clarity it deserves. I’d like to touch upon several things, in particular the U.S. take on things, and the alleged human rights abuses, which from my preliminary research, seem to actually have some truth to them. Stay tuned.
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Let me tell you about Chavez’:
Poverty in Venezuela has increased since Chavez took over, seven years ago:
(Data from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello *)
1998: 49% of the Venezuelan population was poor.
2005: 57.9% of the Venezuelan population is poor.
That is a 8.9% increase in poverty since Chavez took office.
1998: 20.5% of the population was extremely poor.
2005: 13.3% of the population is extremely poor.
That is a decrease in extreme poverty levels of 7.2% in 7 years.
1998: 69.5% of Venezuelans were poor or extremely poor.
2005: 71.2% of Venezuelans were poor or extremely poor.
That is an increase in poverty and extreme poverty levels of 1.7% since Chavez took office.
The GDP per head has decreased dramatically:
GDP 1998* *(PPP): US$8.500
GDP 2005 ***(PPP): US$6,500
Venezuela has lost 10 positions in the UN Human Development Ranking since Chavez took office.
Compared with the rest of the world Venezuela in 2005 was in a worse position than in 1998.
In 1998 Venezuela ranked # 65.****
In 2005 Venezuela ranked #74.*******
However, Venezuela made 43% more money in 2005 than it made in 1998.
Venezuela’s revenue for 1998: US$ 35 billion
Venezuela’s oil earnings for 2005: US$ 81 billion.
Population grew, but not in a rate proportional to the revenue increase.
Population 1998: 22,803,409 ******
Population 2006: 25,730,435 *******
Increased 12%
Chavez is the definition of populism.
Thanks for the statistics. Any chance you know if there’s an English translation of the Universidad’s website?