Tag Archives: food

Aug
19
2011
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ICYMI: Medieval Policies

Medieval Policies – Another Step Forward From Hugo Chávez

The Economist - August 18, 2011

Eight years after Hugo Chávez’s socialist government imposed strict price controls on basic goods, Venezuela has the world’s highest inflation rate to show for the effort. By mid-2011, food prices in Caracas, the capital, were almost nine times higher than when the controls were introduced, according to the Central Bank; wages had risen by 40% less. Last year consumer prices increased by 27%—compared with an average in Latin America of 6%—and they are still rising. With a presidential election due next year, something had to be done. So President Chávez has used legislative powers granted him by the last parliament to decree a Fair Prices and Costs Law, which in effect makes inflation illegal.

According to the decree’s preamble, it is the “flagrant abuses of monopoly power in many sectors of the economy” that have led to “constant price rises for no other reason than the…exploitation of the people”. So the state will now set “fair prices” across the whole economy (only banks are exempted) by determining the cost structure of every type of business. The government says the bureaucracy required to do this will be ready by November. Businesses deemed to be charging “unfair” prices will be fined or temporarily shut down.

The private sector, already hemmed in by many controls, is predictably angry. But there are critics on the left too. Heinz Dieterich, a Mexican-German academic who until recently was a prominent supporter of Mr Chávez, called the law the product of “hallucinations”. The medieval notion of the “just price” (associated with St Thomas Aquinas) was a “phantasmagoric projection like God or the Holy Spirit”, Mr Dieterich wrote.

To read the rest of the article click here.

 
Jul
25
2011
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“I’ll even control…water!”

During a typical-style TV marathon appearance, the Venezuelan President raises the specter of expropriating water-bottling companies in Venezuela. In his usual bombastic style, Chávez alleges that private companies “own the water” in Venezuela. The fact is that water in Venezuela is completely managed by the State. The State then provides concessions to private companies to bottle water and sell it throughout the country. Despite an attempt by the Venezuelan Environmental Minister to correct him, Chávez ignores the facts and continues his rant against water bottling companies. Watch the video below.

 
Jun
3
2011
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In Case You Missed It… Articles Roundup Week of 6/3/11

In this week’s roundup…The housing crisis is the top of mind issue for Venezuelans, as the country copes with soaring inflation and rising debt. Meanwhile, the oil sanctions debate rages on as President Hugo Chávez jokes about his government’s ties to Iran.

 

FACTBOX-Housing among top worries for Venezuelans, Reuters

Venezuela’s housing shortage is a challenge for President Hugo Chavez, a major concern for millions in the South American OPEC member, and one of the issues that could shape next year’s election. With 29 million people, Venezuela is short of 2 million housing units. Chavez blames past capitalist governments and local businesses for putting profit motives before the needs of society at large.

Chavez to Request $10.5 Billion in Debt Under New Venezuela Law, Bloomberg

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he will send a request to the National Assembly today to issue up to 45 billion bolivars ($10.5 billion) in new bonds this year as part of a special debt law. Of the total, 20 billion bolivars would help pay for 153,000 homes as part of a housing drive, 10 billion bolivars would go to a new job creation program, 10 billion to cover public debt and 5 billion to respond to heavy rains that have damaged homes and infrastructure, Chavez said.

 

Venezuelans struggle to cope with soaring food prices, inflation tops Latin America, The Washington Post

Soaring food prices are forcing many Venezuelans to change their eating habits, trim their shopping lists and set aside more of their earnings to feed their families. The oil-exporting country is coping with one of the highest inflation rates in the world: 22.9 percent as of last month, and food prices are rising even faster. “It’s gotten 100 percent worse,” said Evelyn Villamizar, a 29-year-old student who is raising a 5-year-old son in a poor barrio of the Venezuelan capital, Caracas. She said she feels “strangled by the prices.”

Hugo Chavez in the U.S. Crosshairs, Foreign Policy

Finally, Hugo Chavez is being held accountable for his reckless efforts to aid and abet Iran’s illegal pursuit of a nuclear capability and evasion of international sanctions. This week, the Obama administration announced it was imposing sanctions on Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA and the Venezuelan Military Industries Company CAVIM for their illicit dealings with Iran.

US Oil Sanctions Against Venezuela May End Up Helping Chavez, The Wall Street Journal

U.S. sanctions against Venezuela’s state oil company may benefit rather than hurt President Hugo Chavez’s government by providing fuel for anti-U.S. rhetoric as the leftist leader rallies supporters ahead of next year’s presidential elections. Slamming Washington is a timeworn strategy for winning votes in many parts of Latin America, and it could provide a boost to the re-election bid by Chavez, who in his 12 years in power has become the region’s loudest U.S. critic. “Chavez is using [the sanctions] as a weapon to consolidate his base, to put the opposition in an uncomfortable situation and to rally support for his election campaign,” said Anibal Romero, a Caracas-based retired professor of political science. While analysts don’t expect the recent sanctions to have much effect on Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PdVSA, as the state oil company is known, the reaction from the Chavez government has generated unease among holders of Venezuelan debt, weighing on bonds trading in New York in recent days.

 

 

Chavez condemns US sanctions, jokes about missiles, Associated Press

President Hugo Chavez mocked U.S. concerns about Venezuela’s ties with Iran on Tuesday, joking that while his adversaries worry about Iranian-made missiles lining his country’s coast his government is actually erecting windmills there. The socialist leader at first said missiles could be launched at Washington and other U.S. cities, then held up a photograph of windmills along the South American country’s coast, saying “here they are.”