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Bumping the thread because it's still very interesting.
There was some concern, from what I read on the thread, that Chavez would start a dictatorship based on populism, just like in many countries in Latin America during the cold war.
I've been reading loads of articles about this to try and understand what is he really about, and despite all the bashing from big media companies in Brazil against him or Evo, quite a clear picture could be formed.
Chavez wants to nationalize strategical companies - oil, electricity, telecoms - by buying them, not appropriating them, as I heard many paople say. He's also on his way to stop the autonomy of the Central Bank of Venezuela (Central Bank autonomies are something that the IMF absolutely loves). This would be a way to defend against a possible foreing military invasion (guess who).
There's a catch many newspapers (at least in Brazil) fail to report: he intends to share ownership of companies on the verge of bankruptcy among workers of the same.
This, alone, isn't enough to say that his government is focused on the collectiveness, or on "the social". But Venezuelan budget for 2007 is 45% destined to social programs, including 4 billion dollars that will go to local community councils responsible for social projects.
I don't think this has ever happened in Latin America.
He does sound authoritarian, though. He's governing via decree-laws which need no approval of congress to pass, saying it'll speed up the process of making Venezuela a socialist country. Still, if we consider the way corporations use lobbies to control congresses (this is very usual in Brazil), it doesn't sound much worse.
The threats to freedom of speech, as far as the sources I read go, seem imaginary. One example is RCTV, a TV station which openly supported the coup against him in 2002 and was never censored. It made propaganda anti-Chavez during the elections, which is something inconstitutional, as far as TV concessions are concerned. The only punishment it faced was the non-renewal of its concession for 20 years. It kept its studios, equipment and installations and still has the right to transmit content on cable TV. TV stations in Brazil and the US have gone untouched for worst crimes.
Still waiting for more results of Chavez's government. So far, it looks ok to me. |
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