April 22, 2010

With the worst of the worldwide economic recession having passed, most would assume that national economies have nowhere to go but up. And they would be right – unless they are talking about Hugo Chávez’s Venezuela.

Economic forecast reports released this week by both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund conclude that while almost every country in the Western Hemisphere will see modest to substantial economic growth in 2010, Venezuela’s economy will continue to deteriorate.

The World Bank’s Chief Economist for Latin America blamed the plummeting Venezuelan economy on President Chávez’s anti-private property policies: “In Venezuela we are seeing a phenomenon in which private activity, productivity, business and private production is falling.”

Both reports project that the Venezuelan GDP will dip 2.6 percent in 2010, making it the only South American nation projected to have a negative GDP. Only one country is expected to have worse economic progress: earthquake ravaged Haiti. All other South American countries will see their GDPs improve by two to six percent.

The IMF report compared Venezuela’s economy to that of its neighbors. It states that “the [economic] rebound is projected to be relatively strong in Bolivia and Paraguay, whereas the recovery is expected to be delayed and weak in Venezuela, given ongoing power shortages. “

The IMF report further projects that by 2015 only three countries in the Western Hemisphere will have worse economies than that of Venezuela.

April 20, 2010

First were Coca-Cola and Barbie, then Twitter, and now McDonald’s and Wendy’s. American businesses in Venezuela continue to be among the primary targets of Hugo Chávez’s offensive against private property.

The order to close down the Caracas McDonald’s and Wendy’s restaurants comes during government preparations for the official unveiling of a bust of Fidel Castro next week.

“It is an ideological inconsistency to have two businesses identified with the U.S. empire in Bicentennial Boulevard…it is not xenophobia,” explained Gerson Pérez, leader of Chávez’s ruling party.

The Venezuelan president is ramping up his socialist agenda in the face of plummeting job approval numbers. The most recent opinion poll reveals that distrust of the President has skyrocketed to 70 percent, a 33 percent jump in the last three years. This includes a stunning 87 percent disapproval of his ability to create jobs.

“People have lost confidence in Venezuela’s president and do not share his ideology, which aims at implementing an autocracy,” said Datanálisis Pollster Gil Yépez. He added: “The Venezuelan people are still attached to private property, democracy, freedom of expression, the right to organize and using elections as the mechanism to run society.”

April 14, 2010

With the Venezuelan economy mired in a crippling recession and September elections looming, President Hugo Chávez dialed up the rhetoric this week. On a day he proclaimed “Day of National Jubilation,” Chávez hosted a military-style parade to mark the anniversary of the 2002 failed coup against him.

Addressing a crowd of clenched-fists, riffle-carrying young militias, Chávez encouraged his supporters to pay the ultimate price in defense of his government. “You should be ready to take up arms at any moment and give your lives if necessary for our nation’s independence and the socialist revolution,” he declared.

Chávez’s show of force comes just days after his signing of an arms deal with Russia, which includes a pledge by the Russians to help Venezuela develop a nuclear energy program. The agreement has been heavily criticized by the international community, including the United States, and comes in the midst of a historic nuclear summit in Washington D.C. aimed at drastically curbing nuclear proliferation.

As the date for the September elections nears, the Venezuelan president’s popularity has dipped as a result of months of electricity shortage, security concerns, a crippling economy and unpopular expropriations of private businesses such as Polar, Venezuela’s largest employer.

Speaking to the crowd, Chávez asserted that “We cannot allow the bourgeoise to occupy seats in the National Assembly. We cannot allow them to undo the revolutionary laws.”