That Evil Hugo Chavez
Hey Folks,
Call me a dupe, but Chavez seems to be more compassionate that our "Compassionate Conservative" Chimper-in-Chief.
- Uke Man
Venezuelans reap oil riches
Poor have a voice in how money is spent
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Robert Collier
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
CARACAS, Venezuela — Hugo Chavez’s revolution came to the hillside slum of San Juan one recent night in the glare of a solitary light bulb.
Two-dozen people clustered on a rooftop to debate the money and power that suddenly seemed within their grasp — everything from home construction to bank loans, street repairs, and after-school and vacation-recreation programs for children.
It was the first meeting of San Juan’s communal council, an example of a new grassroots governing structure that is spreading across Venezuela. Like thousands of other such councils, the San Juan group will soon be given previously unheard-of sums of money by the central government in what Chavez calls "a revolution within the revolution."
While the Venezuelan president has caused international controversy with his angry denunciations of the Bush administration, this is where the rubber meets the road for his radical rhetoric. He is spending billions of dollars on anti-poverty programs, in what might be the largest such effort in a developing nation.
And in a gamble that turns part of his own government’s power structure on its head, he is handing a large degree of authority over these spending programs to thousands of these elected local councils.
"The issues in these neighborhoods are very old fights — water, land, decent housing," said Andres Antillano, a professor of social psychology and criminology at the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas who has been an adviser to neighborhood groups.
"For many years, the only relationship with the state was the police. They came here and put everyone against the wall," Antillano said. "Chavez has chosen to gamble on legitimizing these issues. The communal councils are a very serious attempt at grass-roots organizing."
The policy appears especially popular in the hard-bitten slums of Caracas — although the electorate seems divided between a strongly pro-Chavez minority and an apathetic majority. San Juan’s new council was chosen with only 330 of the neighborhood’s 916 eligible adult residents casting ballots.
"We like Chavez because he’s giving us control," said Leomar Aquino, who had just been chosen head of the Education, Culture, Recreation and Sports Committee.
On this night, nobody seemed to know exactly how much their neighborhood would receive. Nor, the next day, did anyone at the offices of the local district government or in the central government buildings downtown.
What is certain is that Venezuela’s petroleum-export earnings are rising rapidly, and the government is spending the money with abandon.
The government initially budgeted $857 million for social spending in 2006. But as oil money floods in, officials keep increasing the amount. It now stands at $7 billion, although many experts view that figure as a guesstimate of money being spent on the fly.
Public-works projects are everywhere, ranging from subway lines in Caracas and Valencia to bridges over the Orinoco River. New medical clinics — mostly staffed by Cuban doctors provided under Chavez’s oil-aid program to Fidel Castro — are within reach of almost everyone in this nation of 25 million people. And infant mortality has been cut from 21 deaths per 1,000 births to 16 per 1,000.
Another initiative that could change the lives of millions of poor Venezuelans is a program to increase land ownership.
Venezuela is the most urbanized nation in Latin America, with about 86 percent of its people living in cities, but about one-third of those urban dwellers have no title to their land. In legal terms they are squatters, and cannot access many government programs.
Call me a dupe, but Chavez seems to be more compassionate that our "Compassionate Conservative" Chimper-in-Chief.
- Uke Man
Venezuelans reap oil riches
Poor have a voice in how money is spent
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Robert Collier
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
CARACAS, Venezuela — Hugo Chavez’s revolution came to the hillside slum of San Juan one recent night in the glare of a solitary light bulb.
Two-dozen people clustered on a rooftop to debate the money and power that suddenly seemed within their grasp — everything from home construction to bank loans, street repairs, and after-school and vacation-recreation programs for children.
It was the first meeting of San Juan’s communal council, an example of a new grassroots governing structure that is spreading across Venezuela. Like thousands of other such councils, the San Juan group will soon be given previously unheard-of sums of money by the central government in what Chavez calls "a revolution within the revolution."
While the Venezuelan president has caused international controversy with his angry denunciations of the Bush administration, this is where the rubber meets the road for his radical rhetoric. He is spending billions of dollars on anti-poverty programs, in what might be the largest such effort in a developing nation.
And in a gamble that turns part of his own government’s power structure on its head, he is handing a large degree of authority over these spending programs to thousands of these elected local councils.
"The issues in these neighborhoods are very old fights — water, land, decent housing," said Andres Antillano, a professor of social psychology and criminology at the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas who has been an adviser to neighborhood groups.
"For many years, the only relationship with the state was the police. They came here and put everyone against the wall," Antillano said. "Chavez has chosen to gamble on legitimizing these issues. The communal councils are a very serious attempt at grass-roots organizing."
The policy appears especially popular in the hard-bitten slums of Caracas — although the electorate seems divided between a strongly pro-Chavez minority and an apathetic majority. San Juan’s new council was chosen with only 330 of the neighborhood’s 916 eligible adult residents casting ballots.
"We like Chavez because he’s giving us control," said Leomar Aquino, who had just been chosen head of the Education, Culture, Recreation and Sports Committee.
On this night, nobody seemed to know exactly how much their neighborhood would receive. Nor, the next day, did anyone at the offices of the local district government or in the central government buildings downtown.
What is certain is that Venezuela’s petroleum-export earnings are rising rapidly, and the government is spending the money with abandon.
The government initially budgeted $857 million for social spending in 2006. But as oil money floods in, officials keep increasing the amount. It now stands at $7 billion, although many experts view that figure as a guesstimate of money being spent on the fly.
Public-works projects are everywhere, ranging from subway lines in Caracas and Valencia to bridges over the Orinoco River. New medical clinics — mostly staffed by Cuban doctors provided under Chavez’s oil-aid program to Fidel Castro — are within reach of almost everyone in this nation of 25 million people. And infant mortality has been cut from 21 deaths per 1,000 births to 16 per 1,000.
Another initiative that could change the lives of millions of poor Venezuelans is a program to increase land ownership.
Venezuela is the most urbanized nation in Latin America, with about 86 percent of its people living in cities, but about one-third of those urban dwellers have no title to their land. In legal terms they are squatters, and cannot access many government programs.
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