Other than that, though, what's wrong with Venezuela?

From the WaPo:
According to a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists, even media not directly controlled by the government have been reluctant to report critically on Mr. Chavez.  Many voters, too, are intimidated by high-tech polling machines that read their fingerprints; polls show that they suspect their votes will not be secret.  Those not motivated by fright might be lured by greed:  The government has amassed a list of 3 million people it has promised new homes. There are about 12 million likely voters. 
That Mr. Chavez is in danger of losing in spite of all this is testimony to the havoc he has wreaked in what was once Latin America’s richest country.  At more than 20 percent, inflation is the highest in the region and is accompanied by chronic shortages of food, basic consumer goods and power.  The country’s infrastructure is crumbling:  Within the last two months an explosion at a state oil refinery killed 50 people, and a major highway bridge collapsed.  Perhaps worst of all for average citizens, violent crime has become epidemic under Mr. Chavez.  The murder rate, which has more than tripled, is one of the five highest in the world.  Drug traffickers have made Venezuela a hub for shipments to the United States and Europe with the help of senior government officials, including the current defense minister.
Chavez won his re-election campaign.  Here's a giddy socialist take on the news:
The accomplishments of the Chavez regime over the past 13 years are undeniable.  When he entered office, Chavez took command of an economy that had been ravaged by IMF structural adjustment plans that had devastated most of the welfare subsidies and social guarantees that had been built up by the progressive nationalist regimes of the 1970s.  . . .  [S]ince Chavez was elected President in 1999, unemployment has been cut in half – declining from 14% to 7%.  Increased access to medical care, particularly through community clinics staffed by Cuban physicians, has led to a decline in infant mortality from 20 deaths per 1,000 live births to 13 deaths per 1,000.   Per capita GDP has increased from $4,000 in 1999 to $10,000 today.  And extreme poverty has declined from 23% of the population when Chavez entered office in 1999 to 8.5% today. . . . The election of right wing opposition candidate Henrique Capriles would have meant an immediate end to this process of social transformation. . . .
I guess we'll see.  Chavez is facing another contest that I doubt he'll win.  Whatever path Venezuela takes will have to be without him, one way or another.

3 comments:

Grim said...

"...intimidated by high-tech polling machines that read their fingerprints; polls show that they suspect their votes will not be secret."

The hell you say!

When I was an undergrad we had "secret" student evaluation forms that required your social security number.

Gringo said...

PSF [Pendejo Sin Frontera] quoted:
Increased access to medical care, particularly through community clinics staffed by Cuban physicians, has led to a decline in infant mortality from 20 deaths per 1,000 live births to 13 deaths per 1,000.

Unfortunately for that argument, the rest of Latin America has made better progress than Venezuela in reducing infant mortality during that time.

Country Name 1999 2011
Venezuela, RB 20 13
Latin America & Caribbean (all income levels) 29 16


In absolute numbers , from 1999-2011, Venezuela reduced its infant mortality by 7 per thousand. During the same time, Latin America and the Caribbean reduced infant mortality by 13 per thousand. From 1999-2011, Venezuela reduced its infant mortality by 35%. During the same time, Latin America & the Caribbean reduced infant mortality by 45% - the vast majority of whom did not have access to "community clinics staffed by Cuban physicians."

In 1999 infant mortality in Latin America & the Caribbean was 45% higher than infant mortality in Venezuela. In 2011, Latin America's infant mortality was only 23% higher than Venezuela's. In absolute numbers, the difference between Latin America's and Venezuela's infant mortality was reduced from 9 to 3 from 21999 to 2011.
These figures are not a ringing endorsement for "community clinics staffed by Cuban physicians" in Venezuela as a superior model for health care delivery.

Data from World Development Indicators Databank (World Bank) .

Regarding the change in Venezuela per capita income, that can be explained by the rise in the price of oil.

Assistant Village Idiot said...

Doesn't the word "undeniable" always seem to mean "I am looking at only part of the evidence?"