Fat Fuck Commie Chavez Report Card - Many Venezuelans See No Change Yet

http://www.newsmax.com/international/venezuela_unrealized_revolution/2007/12/30/60606.html

Many Venezuelans See No Change Yet

Sunday, December 30, 2007

LAS CUMARAGUAS, Venezuela -- In this dusty town of potholed roads on the

Caribbean coast, people are fascinated with the revolutionary changes that

President Hugo Chavez talks about constantly on television.

But nine years after he was elected, many here say their lives are virtually

the same. There are still few jobs. Running water comes only two days a week

at best. Paint peels from the walls of the public school, where teachers say

they badly need more books.

The state is building three dozen concrete homes here, but construction has

dragged on while some residents are living in quarters so cramped they must

string up hammocks in their living rooms.

Where, they ask, is Chavez' revolution?

"It hasn't arrived yet. Not here in Las Cumaraguas," says Oriel Urbina, a

48-year-old who works gathering rock salt in the cactus-fringed flats that

run along the beach.

---

Although many Venezuelans in this town believe in Chavez and have

consistently voted for him, their complaints reflect key weaknesses in his

political movement that likely contributed to his first electoral defeat on

Dec. 2.

Chavez blamed low turnout among supporters for the rejection of

constitutional changes that would have reshaped the economy and ended

presidential term limits. He said the lesson will ultimately strengthen his

socialist movement; setbacks, he said, are "necessary now and then."

His popularity remains high, and he presides over an expanding economy

propelled by surging oil prices.

But even some loyal backers complain of basic deficiencies in his rule:

government corruption, bureaucracy, rampant crime, double-digit inflation

and recent shortages of items like milk.

"They feel disenchanted, and that explains why they didn't show up" to vote,

said Steve Ellner, a political science professor at Venezuela's University

of the East. "There's a feeling that for all the high-sounding rhetoric and

lofty ideals, that there hasn't been sufficient attention addressed to

concrete issues."

The political test that lies ahead for Latin America's most outspoken

leftist hinges on whether he will be able to solve such problems and deliver

on promises to those who see him as a savior.

In long, fiery speeches, Chavez talks of the socialist ideals of Karl Marx,

the example set by his Cuban friend Fidel Castro, and his own plans for "the

first great revolution of the 21st century." The constitutional proposals

rejected by voters would have created new forms of communal property as a

step in that direction.

Yet Chavez's utopian and egalitarian words often go far beyond the changes

realized so far.

While the government has created free health clinics and universities, other

aspects of society are business-as-usual.

Consumerism is alive and well, with the moneyed classes enjoying new cars,

fine Scotch whisky and private social clubs. Central Bank statistics show

the private sector accounted for more of the economy last year _ 62.9

percent of gross domestic product _ than when Chavez was elected in 1998,

when it stood at 59.3 percent.

Slum dwellers, meanwhile, wait on long lists for public housing. And the

homeless pick through trash heaps in spite of state programs intended to

help them.

Still, government statistics point to progress, including a decline in the

share of households considered poor from 43 percent in 1999 to 28 percent

today. Unemployment is down, and gross domestic product has risen by 16

percent on a per-capita basis. Government surveys show the poorest fifth of

Venezuelans have seen their share of the national income grow by 8 percent.

The overall economic performance is a strong positive for Chavez _

especially the rapid growth since he regained control of the oil industry

after a 2003 strike by his opponents, said economist Mark Weisbrot of the

Washington-based Center for Economic and Policy Research.

"For these reasons, Chavez and the government's public approval is likely to

remain high, and the opposition weak, regardless of the results of the

referendum," Weisbrot said.

Others argue the gap between rich and poor has narrowed only modestly, and

that voters rejected Chavez's proposals in part due to fears about his plans

for a socialist economy.

Many Venezuelans still don't know what Chavez means by "21st Century

socialism" and are not sold on the concept, said Yoel Acosta Chirinos, a

former Chavez ally who once helped him lead a failed 1992 coup.

"This defeat is the beginning of the end for Chavismo," Acosta said. "Why?

Because it hasn't responded to so many expectations created by (Chavez's)

political project."

Chavez, a former paratroop commander, recognizes government programs are

sometimes inefficient and says much remains to be done. He urges Venezuelans

to give him more time and get involved in building a new socialist society.

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For now, many in Las Cumaraguas are willing to wait for Chavez to deliver

meaningful aid to their desolate home on the windblown Paraguana Peninsula.

Urbina and others say they wish Chavez would visit and see how much help

they need. They suspect corruption and bureaucracy are hindering his goals.

"The resources don't reach us," Urbina says. "The president isn't to blame.

.... It's the people around him."

In the salt flats beside the town, men in tattered clothes sling pickaxes

and shovel rock salt into wheelbarrows. For each ton of salt piled up, they

earn $5.60 by selling it to a plant run by a state company, Corpofalcon.

Children sell chunks of salt to passing cars along a road roamed by grazing

goats and donkeys.

Seven years ago, the state ended its contract with the private company that

refined the salt, and assumed control. Since then, the number of jobs at the

plant has shrunk, the workers say, from about 90 to 19.

Corpofalcon's president, Omar Perez, said residents are benefiting from $1.2

million that the state is investing here.

But Sirilo Garces, who collects salt, said what the town needs most are

jobs. "That's what doesn't exit here."

A billboard at the salt plant announces a partially completed project to

build a new warehouse and install machinery. Chavez is pictured in a red

beret, raising a fist in the air beside the governor of Falcon state.

The sign reads: "Falcon Has Changed Forever."