Hugo Chavez
The T-shirt reads loosely 'Towards 10 million [votes]' and was a campaign slogan in for Hugo Chavez in the recent Venezuelan presidential elections.
Warning!! If you don't like politics, ignore what comes below.
This guys seems to be breathing new life into fervent leftists world-wide. He claims to offer a new economic model for solving poverty and achieving development. And this model does not involve 'savage capitalism'. Better yet he has been overwhelmingly elected as recented as 3D last year. Revolutionary indeed.
That is if all the achievements had not coincided with high international oil prices. Oil accounts for about 50% of GDP and 75% of exports in Venezuela. Oil prices have gone from $12 in 1998 when this guy was elected to about $60 the last couple years. Venezuela has seen similar booms (and subsequent busts) before especially in the late 70s and early 80s. Chavez may be better at appealing to the poor and have more innovative ways of spending money on solving the problems of the poor, but the economic model is not revolutionary. Worse it can not be imitated anywhere that does not enjoy similar windfalls. It is a one country miracle until the next downturn in the oil cycle.
The sight of the train heading slowly for the cliff (anticipated arrival 2009-11) would be midly amusing if it were not happening in a country I like.....
Hugo Chavez
The T-shirt reads loosely 'Towards 10 million [votes]' and was a campaign slogan in for Hugo Chavez in the recent Venezuelan presidential elections.
Warning!! If you don't like politics, ignore what comes below.
This guys seems to be breathing new life into fervent leftists world-wide. He claims to offer a new economic model for solving poverty and achieving development. And this model does not involve 'savage capitalism'. Better yet he has been overwhelmingly elected as recented as 3D last year. Revolutionary indeed.
That is if all the achievements had not coincided with high international oil prices. Oil accounts for about 50% of GDP and 75% of exports in Venezuela. Oil prices have gone from $12 in 1998 when this guy was elected to about $60 the last couple years. Venezuela has seen similar booms (and subsequent busts) before especially in the late 70s and early 80s. Chavez may be better at appealing to the poor and have more innovative ways of spending money on solving the problems of the poor, but the economic model is not revolutionary. Worse it can not be imitated anywhere that does not enjoy similar windfalls. It is a one country miracle until the next downturn in the oil cycle.
The sight of the train heading slowly for the cliff (anticipated arrival 2009-11) would be midly amusing if it were not happening in a country I like.....