Tag Archives: nationalizations

Oct
25
2012
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Venezuelan Assembly Considers New Media-Control Law

hugo chavez Venezuelan Assembly Considers New Media Control Law

Courtesy of: Reuters

Having secured reelection, Hugo Chávez has signaled his intention to pivot back to his most extreme socialist policies. After presenting a more moderate face as a candidate, Chávez has pledged to deepen his socialist revolution as president. The pace of expropriations slowed in the politically crucial months before Oct. 7, but now the administration promises to begin nationalizing private companies with renewed vigor. Just weeks after his victory, even the remaining trace of Venezuela’s independent media, already one of the most harassed, has been put on notice.

The Chávez-friendly National Assembly appears set to approve legislation that extends the government’s strictest information-control requirements to cable TV. Previously the most severe restrictions – enshrined in the Ley Resorte law – applied only to broadcast television stations. These entities were required to abide by content requirements and to air Chávez’s “cadena” addresses at a moment’s notice. The Assembly’s proposed law would extend these restrictions to Venezuela’s private cable stations as well.

This legislation, which includes the Orwellian proposal to ensure “the enforcement of cultural information,” could deal a blow to Venezuela’s scant remaining free media. In addition to forcing stations to broadcast cadenas, the law would also limit the amount of “foreign” content aired on Venezuelan cable stations, infringing on Venezuelan TV viewers’ ability to get news or commentary from sources outside the country. Carabobo state Rep. Miguel Cocchiola, a member of the opposition, calls the law “a tool [for the government] to enhance communication hegemony.”

During the election, Chávez’s abuse of his cadena power was well documented, as it allowed him to saturate Venezuela with campaign propaganda and interrupt coverage of Capriles campaign events. Meanwhile, the Capriles campaign was forced to pay for airtime, while many noted that compiling the resources needed to match the reach of the state media would have been an impossible task. According to the watchdog group Transparency International, Chávez used cadenas for more than 87 hours during the campaign.

Such attacks on free media are nothing new for Chávez’s “21st Century Socialism,” which militates against the free economy and free media alike. From the closure of the popular network RCTV to the constant fines and sanctions levied against Globovision, Chávez has systematically censored, harassed or otherwise silenced privately-owned media outlets he deems critical of his persona or government.

Multiple watchdog groups have affirmed that independent media remain an endangered species in the country. Since 2005, defamation of the president has been punishable by six to 30 months in prison. Mr. Chávez has revoked the broadcast license of at least 240 radio stations – nearly 50 percent of all radio stations in the country – perceived as critical of the government. Today, Chávez controls at least two national radio networks, six television channels, 72 regional television stations, four newspapers and over 600 radio stations across the country.

As expected, news coverage on government-owned television is far from balanced. According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, during the last week of September – just days before the Oct. 7 election – government news channel VTV dedicated 18 hours of coverage to Chávez. Its tally for Mr. Capriles was 30 minutes.

 
Oct
17
2012
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REPORT: CHÁVEZ EXPROPRIATES 1,168 COMPANIES IN A DECADE; JAUA SAYS THERE’S MORE TO COME

agropatria1210 REPORT: CHÁVEZ EXPROPRIATES 1,168 COMPANIES IN A DECADE; JAUA SAYS THERES MORE TO COME

Courtesy of: Jack Bocaranda / AVN

During the last 13 years, Hugo Chávez has earned his reputation as a fierce opponent of private industry. Even as inflation soared and Venezuelans experienced shortages of even the most basic goods, Chávez held true to his socialist ideology, nationalizing huge swaths of the nation’s economy – from farming to oil production to the media. A report from the analysis firm Conindustria indicates that from 2002 to 2012 Chávez’s government nationalized 1,168 private companies. From the seizure of private oil operations to the expropriation of millions of hectares of farmland to the takeover of vacation homes on Los Roques, Chávez has shown that no sector of the economy is beyond his grasp.

However, the pace of expropriations slowed drastically in the months before the election. It seemed that even Chávez recognized his crusade did not represent sound economic policy. The trend began late last year, when Chávez slowed the rate of expropriations and began striking deals with companies he once derided – part of an effort to prop up Venezuela’s economy in an election year.

But now, having been granted the political cover of a new six-year term, Chávez has vowed to deepen his socialist revolution. A reinvigorated opposition can challenge the president on many fronts, but on his bread and butter policy of expropriations, Chávez will likely have free rein. Former Vice President Elias Jaua said in an interview last week that Chávez plans to take full advantage of that power. He told media that the “strategic expropriation” of companies is again on the agenda for Chávez’s next term. Since that time, Jaua has been replaced by Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro and now stands as a candidate for Governor of Miranda state against Henrique Capriles.

Economists agree that Chávez’s policies have made Venezuela one of the hardest countries on the world in which to do business.  And Venezuela’s people have felt the consequences: foreign direct investment has fallen to less than $1 billion per year from $3.9 billion the year before Chávez took office. Meanwhile, government policies have kept arable farmland idle, forcing Venezuela to raise imports by more than 400 percent to make up for the losses.

Unfortunately for Venezuelans, the situation seems unlikely to improve in the immediate future.

 
Oct
11
2012
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After Sunday, What’s Next?

514473580 After Sunday, Whats Next?

Courtesy of: Luis Acosta / AFP / Getty Images

In the aftermath of Sunday’s vote, which saw Hugo Chávez elected to his fourth term as president, several things have become clear. Henrique Capriles, leading a unified and energized opposition, was the toughest challenger Mr. Chávez has ever faced. The Chávez government wielded its control of Venezuela’s media relentlessly, preventing Capriles’ message of unity to find pragmatic solutions to everyday problems from gaining any traction on the airwaves. Others have rightly pointed out the bias in Venezuela’s electoral authority, the CNE. Despite the unlevel playing field, Capriles, who doggedly marched through more than 250 towns, succeeded in turning nearly half the country to his cause.

Even though one’s initial impression of Sunday’s vote may yield a dreary sense of “more of the same,” the coming years promise to be crucial for Venezuela. Chávez’s victory brings with it none of the certainty of past triumphs. For one, the president’s cancer still looms over Venezuela’s future: despite his repeated denials, many believe that Chávez remains terminally ill. Given that Venezuela’s constitution stipulates that a new election be held if a president dies in the first four years of his term, the country’s rejuvenated opposition may have another chance to make its case before Venezuelans. Regardless of the president’s health, December’s gubernatorial and April’s mayoral elections give the opposition an opportunity to make further gains against Chávez’s socialist project.

And that opposition still has much to fight for. Chávez, ever the ideologue, is poised to direct his government to take over more of the private economy. The 2012 campaign has weakened Chávez’s political support, but it is unlikely to have shaken his commitment to his socialist project. After a few quiet months in the run-up to the election, we may see the pace of expropriations tick up again. In fact, just two days after Chavez’s election victory, Vice President Elias Jaua confirmed that the expropriation policy will indeed continue.

Venezuela’s stagnating economy may be in for a crushing blow, meanwhile, as Chávez’s election-year borrowing-and-spending may well lead to a currency devaluation. This borrowing, along with high global oil prices, has thus far papered over the cracks in Venezuela’s anemic economy. As Chávez poured millions into his populist reelection effort, he failed to address the fundamental weaknesses in the nation’s economy: food shortages, electrical outages and a crumbling public infrastructure.

But what goes up must come down: the poorly-managed state oil company PDVSA has continually operated under capacity; as prices fall, Venezuela’s leaders’ failure to plan for the future will redound upon the nation’s people. The fatal refinery explosion in Amuay is but a recent illustration of the consequences of PDVSA’s mismanagement.

Meanwhile, a fresh six-year term will shield Chávez from political consequences of the corruption within his government. Former judge Aponte Aponte shocked Venezuelans and, indeed, the hemisphere with his revelation that the government fed instructions to the nation’s judiciary. With Chávez no longer facing the public scrutiny of a campaign, the incentives for such corruption will only increase.

For those in the U.S. policy community, engagement in the future of Venezuela remains essential. Chávez, to be sure, is unlikely to curb Venezuela’s relationship with allies like China, Russia or Iran, or to liberalize Venezuela’s trade policy toward the United States. But the twin pressures of a possibly-fatal illness and a collapsing economy mean that, for Chávez’s Venezuela, the reckoning has yet to come.