Here is, I think, a good example of too much Socialist Central Planning by a leader like President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela going, "I'm tho tho thmart (like a lisping seven year old) so you must do what I thay!" (or else :mad: always in the background). Instead of the Rule of Law as we have in NorAm & Capitalism, research, consumer surveys etc. Chavez gets a bee in his bonnet, thinks whatever he thinks is a Good Idea because he thought it & then gets it implemented.

Thus: Venezuela's electrical grid & power generation (mind you NorAm is way behind in refurbishing our grids too, we're just not as bad...) is way behind where it should be. Which no doubt holds back the economy. Which is dumb. You can't tax people or steal money from them that they haven't made. Oil production is apparently falling there too do to lack of investment.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081023/wl_nm/us_venezuela_electricity


"SAN FELIX, Venezuela (Reuters) – Despite having some of the world's largest energy reserves, Venezuela is increasingly struggling to maintain basic electrical service, a growing challenge for leftist President Hugo Chavez.

The OPEC nation has suffered three nationwide blackouts this year, and chronic power shortages have sparked protests from the western Andean highlands to San Felix, a city of mostly poor industrial workers in the sweltering south.

Shoddy electrical service is now one of Venezuelans' top concerns, according to a recent poll, and may be a factor in elections next month for governors and mayors in which Chavez allies are expected to lose key posts, in part on complaints of poor services."

It was best said, "diversify yo bonds, nigga!" In other words, they need to invest more in infrastructure.

So do we in NorAm. It's no joke, that everything built 10/20/50+ years ago is wearing out & is often not repaired or replaced. Bridges/roads/power grid & generation I wouldn't be surprised if there is some bad failures before too many years pass. Only time will tell though.

I'm not going to dispute the fact that it's poor management, but the article only tells half the story.

Between 2004 and 2006, the real income of the poorest 58% of the population increased by 130% after allowing for inflation (Venezuelan-American Chamber of Commerce). Take into account the free education and health care and the state subsidised supermarkets (which sell products at an average 39% below the market price), that's a huge increase in disposable income for the poor, and a massive increase in electrical demand.

When the writer says "Venezuela for years has skimped billions of dollars in electrical investments" it sounds like he's trying to infer that the government has been intentionally cutting spending, which isn't the case, it's more a case of not having the foresight to anticipate how much consumption would increase as a result of the poor having more disposable income. Again, for the leader of a country this kind of negligence isn't really defensible, but you can't help but feel the shortages are being falsely used as arguments against Bolivarian socialism.

As mvpena alluded to in another thread, some of the steps Chavez needs to take (lifting maximum tariffs & charging the poor who illegally hook up to the grid) will be unpopular with his traditional supporter base, the Venezuelan poor, so he's between a rock and a hard place on this one.

When the writer says "Venezuela for years has skimped billions of dollars in electrical investments" it sounds like he's trying to infer that the government has been intentionally cutting spending, which isn't the case, it's more a case of not having the foresight to anticipate how much consumption would increase as a result of the poor having more disposable income. Again, for the leader of a country this kind of negligence isn't really defensible, but you can't help but feel the shortages are being falsely used as arguments against Bolivarian socialism.


Hi.

Slightly offtopic here, but I am thinking that maybe it's not poor planning/lack of foresight? Could it be that Chavez HAS been trying to keep up with the energy demand, but simply fails to do so, due to not having enough resources (time, money or the technology), since infrastructures like the power grids are not easy to build.

Just a thought.

Well...it would be interesting to see a deeper study. Has he been buying new equipment for the grid & the petroleum industry as fast as he's been buying Russian weapons?

Well...it would be interesting to see a deeper study. Has he been buying new equipment for the grid & the petroleum industry as fast as he's been buying Russian weapons?

Source please.

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=venezuela+buys+arms&ygmasrchbtn=web+search&fr=ush-news

I'm always seeing news about his arms buying.

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=venezuela+buys+arms&ygmasrchbtn=web+search&fr=ush-news

I'm always seeing news about his arms buying.

I see. Well there's nothing wrong with buying arms. Are you accusing that he spends so much money on arms-buying that he doesn't have enough for power grids? Cause if that's what you are suggesting you better man the fuck up and come right out and say it, instead of going about it like a sneaky lil cunt.

Hi.

Slightly offtopic here, but I am thinking that maybe it's not poor planning/lack of foresight? Could it be that Chavez HAS been trying to keep up with the energy demand, but simply fails to do so, due to not having enough resources (time, money or the technology), since infrastructures like the power grids are not easy to build.

Just a thought.

Money definitely isn't a problem, or at least it shouldn't be in a country as oil rich as Venezuela.

Why don't we ask this nation if it would like our help in creating better infrastructure? Why isn't this an oppurtunity for America to show its big heart I have been hearing about so much? Why dont we see if we can find a form of trade with this country, that could benefit us equally?

Because Chavez will not sell his people, and give us his countries oil, that's why.

Because Chavez will not sell his people, and give us his countries oil, that's why.

LOL. Check your sources buddy. Venezuela is our fourth biggest supplier of crude oil, right after Canada, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level_imports/current/import.html


We don't need them to give us their oil. Venezuela is bending over backwards to sell us their oil, and anything Chavez says to the contrary is an empty and meaningless threat.

Venezuela is bending over backwards to sell us their oil, .

Proof?

Because Chavez will not sell his people, and give us his countries oil, that's why.

Chavez is the best thing that's ever happened to Venezuela and its people. Since their interests don't coincide with ours, the media has launched a lie and slander campaign against this hero. We think their elections are rigged, that venezuelans are brainwashed, that chavez is totalitarian, etc. He does more to educate his people about their constitutional rights than american politicians do.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5832390545689805144&ei=jrIHSfh_iu6oAp68vZgK&q=the+revolution+will+not+be+televised

I don't like him, I can't get myself to like populist leaders like him, under his presidency crimes has skyrocketed and the income gap has actually severly widened.

With the oil exports there has been the creation of a sort of upper middle-class, that has profited greatly from the hydrocarbon exploitation, this is similar to what happened in Russia back in the privatisation era, true that the GDP has gone up and a new affluent class has been created, however the vast majority of the population has gone even deeper into poverty.

Chavez does a lot of populist socialist measures, like subsidizing food and fuel for the poor, things of that nature, but it's mere peanuts compared with what his cronies and the priviledged few are stashing in their foreign bank accounts.

With true Socialism social inequalities should disappear, the aim of Socialism is to create an equal society, Chavez has done exactly the opposite, the poor have gotten poorer the rich have gotten richer.

Now I do agree to a certain extent that he's been demonized by mainstream media outlets, however we do have to admit that really he is nothing more than a real life troll, it's evident from his speeches, he reminds me a lot of our Berlusconi, although they should be ideologically opposed I see a lot of similarities between the two, ineptitude, ignorance, propensity to gaffes and cheap populistic stunts to please the uninformed masses.

I don't like him, I can't get myself to like populist leaders like him, under his presidency crimes has skyrocketed and the income gap has actually severly widened.

With the oil exports there has been the creation of a sort of upper middle-class, that has profited greatly from the hydrocarbon exploitation, this is similar to what happened in Russia back in the privatisation era, true that the GDP has gone up and a new affluent class has been created, however the vast majority of the population has gone even deeper into poverty.

Chavez does a lot of populist socialist measures, like subsidizing food and fuel for the poor, things of that nature, but it's mere peanuts compared with what his cronies and the priviledged few are stashing in their foreign bank accounts.

With true Socialism social inequalities should disappear, the aim of Socialism is to create an equal society, Chavez has done exactly the opposite, the poor have gotten poorer the rich have gotten richer.

Now I do agree to a certain extent that he's been demonized by mainstream media outlets, however we do have to admit that really he is nothing more than a real life troll, it's evident from his speeches, he reminds me a lot of our Berlusconi, although they should be ideologically opposed I see a lot of similarities between the two, ineptitude, ignorance, propensity to gaffes and cheap populistic stunts to please the uninformed masses.

He has to be tough, it's understandable. Few Americans know about the involvement of the US and the CIA in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile where military regimes were supported on the expectations that they would impose policies like privatization, selling off and practically giving away state owned assets, and numerous other policies all in the name of free market economics brought to you by Milton Freedman and the Chicago school of economics. These countries saw growth decline and the wealth-poverty gap widen as oligarchs gained controlled and corporations siphoned off their resources internationally. Severe growth stunts imposed by the USs fear of communism has led to mass poverty in south america. That is why he is such a troll. He campaigns against "neoliberalismo" and the invisible hand.

For all chavez knows he could be killed in military coups like so many south americans were. If you saw the link I posted earlier his initial presidency was ended by corporatists staging a coup and using private media to spin the story way out of line with reality. Chavez ftw.