Socialism ruins more lives.

[dude1394]

http://www.knowledgeproblem.com/archives/001923.html

The Costly Lesson Venezuela's Citizens Are Learning About Their Demagogue

Lynne Kiesling

Four years of Chávez's price controls have led to serious food shortages.

Such shortages have sporadically appeared with items from milk to coffee since early 2003, when Chávez began regulating prices for 400 basic products as a way to counter inflation and protect the poor.

Yet inflation has soared to an accumulated 78 percent in the last four years in an economy awash in petrodollars, and food prices have increased particularly swiftly, creating a widening discrepancy between official prices and the true cost of getting goods to market in Venezuela.

''Shortages have increased significantly as well as violations of price controls,'' Central Bank director Domingo Maza Zavala told Unión Radio on Thursday. "The difference between real market prices and controlled prices is very high.''

Authorities on Wednesday raided a warehouse in Caracas and seized seven tons of sugar hoarded by vendors unwilling to market the inventory at the official price.

Major private supermarkets suspended sales of beef earlier this week after one chain was shut down for 48 hours for pricing meat above government-set levels, but an agreement reached with the government on Wednesday night promises to return meat to empty refrigerator shelves.

I find this exercise of government hubris and arrogance so sickening that it literally nauseates me. Think of the harm that he's doing to the very people who he manages to demagogue into voting for him. The cumulative effects of this type of policy and his destruction of capital assets in Venezuela's oil industry make me feel very, very sorry for the Venezuelan people.

Thanks to Phil Miller for the link.

[Mavdog]

he's wreaking venezuela.
-----------------------------------------------
Venezuela's Chavez says government could nationalize supermarkets, food storage facilities

The Associated Press
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
CARACAS, Venezuela
President Hugo Chavez threatened Wednesday to nationalize any privately owned supermarkets and food storage facilities caught hoarding inventories or violating price controls imposed on basic goods.

Accusing private companies of hoarding foods such as beef, Chavez warned supermarket owners and distributors that he would nationalize their facilities as soon as they gave him "an excuse" to seize such assets.

"If they remain committed to violating the interests of the people, the constitution, the laws, I'm going to take the food storage units, corner stores, supermarkets and nationalize them," Chavez said during a televised broadcast. "So prepare yourselves!"

Chavez has been intent on nationalizing "strategic" sectors of the economy since winning re-election in December. He's moved quickly to buy out private interests in leading electricity and phone companies since the all-Chavista National Assembly gave him authority to enact sweeping measures by decree and accelerate the country's socialist transformation.

Chavez said his decree permitting takeovers of food stores and warehouses will take effect upon publication in the official gazette this week. "The large storage installations, distribution chains, if we have to take them over and nationalize them, wait a few hours for the law to be approved," he warned.

Industry officials blame shortages on price controls that oblige retailers to sell at a loss, while the government claims unscrupulous speculators, including supermarket owners and distributors, have been hoarding food to boost prices. Venezuela's consumer protection agency and National Guard have raided warehouses and confiscated tons of food they say vendors were unwilling to sell at the official price.

Jose Luis Betancourt, president of Venezuela's main business chamber, said Chavez's threat carries grave implications for the private sector.

"This is a veiled threat against any company, any business owner, any investor, any citizen," Betancourt told Globovision TV, saying such moves would impact not just supermarkets but also ordinary Venezuelans.

Betancourt said the industry is prepared to discuss food supply problems with the government, "but we can't work under threats and blackmail."

Industry and Commerce Minister Maria Cristina said the pending decree would give the Chavez government, working through municipal authorities and neighborhood councils, authority over food distribution and sales if private companies such as supermarket chains halt their operations.

Many privately owned supermarkets have suspended sales of beef, milk and sugar in recent weeks after one chain was temporarily shut down for hours for pricing meat above government-set levels. Most items can still be found, but only by paying higher prices at grocery stores or on the black market.

[TheBlueVan]

who smells like sulfur now?

[AxdemxO]

Bush

[dude1394]

Yea...bet those venzueleans would HATE bush leading 'em.

[AxdemxO]

I am sure they would

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by AxdemxO

I am sure they would

Well if they do, then they may well deserve what's coming.

CARACAS, Venezuela, Feb. 16 — Faced with an accelerating inflation rate and shortages of basic foods like beef, chicken and milk, President Hugo Chávez has threatened to jail grocery store owners and nationalize their businesses if they violate the country’s expanding price controls.

Food producers and economists say the measures announced late Thursday night, which include removing three zeroes from the denomination of Venezuela’s currency, are likely to backfire and generate even more acute shortages and higher prices for consumers. Inflation climbed to an annual rate of 18.4 percent a year in January, the highest in Latin America and far above the official target of 10 to 12 percent

[WurzburgBorn]

An article re: Venezuela that offers a little more than just the standard anti-socialist rhetoric:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...r=emailarticle

It's not even pro-Chavez, it just actually has substance to it.

[mcsluggo]

Originally Posted by dude1394

Well if they do, then they may well deserve what's coming.

Great! give 'em the choice between having their left testicle smashed between bricks or their right testicle gnawed on by rodents!