the Noblesse Oblige - of Rats
Hey Folks,
If you want to have a rational understanding of standard news reports, whether on foreign or domestic policy, you need to realize that it is always slanted from the perspective of the privileged (and I'm not referring only to Foxxx News - even the good ol' AP is guilty). The story below makes this perfectly clear.
I've commented in blue where needed.
- Uke Man
Rich Venezuelans heading to Florida
By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ, AP Hispanic Affairs Writer
Sat Mar 3
DORAL, Fla. - They call it "Plan B."
As Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez further tightens control of the South American country's economy, wealthy Venezuelans who once thought they could live with his socialist edicts are turning to their backup plan (if one checks the facts, "Plan A" wasn't "living with his socialist edicts"; first it was a failed coup and then a failed attempt to intimidate Chavez with well-dressed street demonstrations - which larger demonstrations by Chavez's impoverished supporters overwhelmed) — flight to the United States, particularly Florida.
Venezuelans have long gobbled up condos and pre-construction deals in Florida as investments, but the latest buyers want homes where they can live and business properties that will help them earn a green card. These are the people who resent Chavez "bribing" the slum-dwellers with bricks for houses and milk for their children - I am NOT making that up!!!
"First the people who come are the businessmen in the highest circles [Duh!!], then the losing politicians [Duh!!], then the military [Duh!!] and then the professionals [Duh!!]," said Miami-based immigration attorney Oscar Levin. "You're beginning to see the (Venezuelan) professionals." The last rats leaving the plantation (under the old regime, 8o% were impoverished; 20% were well off - the ones heading toward Miami to join the ex-Cuban aristocrats).
This latest and largest potential group of emigrants say they fear the effect Chavez's socialist policies will have on the economy (yeah, it ran really smoothly for the elite 20% and the foreign corporations - now the elite are moving to Miami - a few to maybe even work for a living) and on proposed educational reforms that could mirror the ideologically imbued education of Chavez ally and mentor, Cuba's Fidel Castro. As if the present educational system doesn't short the impoverished 80% and doesn't indoctrinate the populace on the wisdom of oligarchy. In a democracy the betterment of 80% of the population should be reason for celebration!!
"There is so much insecurity [for the elite], political insecurity [for the elite], economic insecurity [for the elite]," said Venezuelan Miguel Medina, a business executive [an elite] who moved to the Miami in August. "You don't know if a contract you signed today will be honored by the government in the future....This was definitely my plan B, but it was time to do the plan B." Until recently, the People knew the social contract would NOT be honored by the government of, by, and for the 20%.
Between 2000 — a year after Chavez took office — and 2005, the number of Venezuelans living in the U.S. doubled to about 160,000, according to the latest U.S. Census numbers. Nearly half live in Florida.
But those numbers are deceptive.
In 2005, 10,645 Venezuelans received their green cards allowing them to live in the United States, almost doubling the 6,222 who received them in 2004, according to the latest Department of Homeland Security statistics. And another 400,000 Venezuelans came to the United States in 2005 on business and tourism visas. It is unclear how many stayed.
Colombia, with nearly twice Venezuela's roughly 27 million residents, sent the same number that year.
Anecdotal evidence suggests even more are seeking to come here since Chavez's recent nationalization of Venezuela's largest telecommunications company and the electricity sector. The Venezuelan Congress also recently gave him special powers to decree laws for 18 months, and Chavez is threatening to expropriate supermarkets, stores and other businesses caught hoarding food or speculating on prices (What a bad guy!! - that would never happen here - even at gas stations) .
Medina said six family members visited him in the last two months seeking ways to relocate to the U.S. Unlike previous cycles, those seeking to leave and bring their money ("their" money??)to the U.S. now are coming from around Venezuela, not just from Caracas, said Medina, an account executive for the credit group ExpoCredit.
Meanwhile Ralph Gomez, who heads the Miami area Tower Investments group and has long specialized in real estate for South American clients, said he's received more than two dozen calls since the year began from people interested in coming to the U.S. Other agents report a similar spike.
Upper-class (Duh!!) Venezuelans and their money (Duh!!) flowed out of the country (Duh!!) after Chavez was elected in 1998 and again when he quashed an unsuccessful coup against his government in 2002, but many professionals still hoped the climate would remain friendly to business. Then came the latest nationalizations. (I guess they figure that if business isn't in control of the people's interests, that's "unfriendly") Chavez still pledges to maintain a business-friendly climate, and analysts say the government has paid fair market prices to nationalize the electric and phone companies.
Yet, with 17 percent inflation pushing the Bolivar to more than 4,000 per dollar on the black market, compared to the official rate of 2,150 Bolivars per dollar, many Venezuelans are looking to move their businesses to the U.S. or to set up a new one here. How many of these do you figure come from the 80% part of Venezuela that is impoverished?
Those who can afford it often opt for business visas that require a minimum of a $500,000 investment in a company that creates jobs in an underdeveloped area in the U.S. These folks aren't impoverished.
About 33,000 Venezuelans received some kind of work visa to come to the U.S. in 2005 — nearly a quarter of all such visas for South Americans — compared to about 17,000 in 1999.
Those who come are received with open arms in Miami (Duh!!), where their money is welcome (Duh!!) and the Cuban exile community of cry-baby displaced exploiters views Chavez as the next Fidel Castro (Duh!!). As of 2004, Venezuelans tied with Germans and Canadians as the second biggest group of foreigners purchasing homes in Florida, according to the National Association of Realtors. Only the British bought more Florida homes. Yeah, but the Germans, Canadians, and Brits weren't run out of their respective countries.
But moving to the U.S., even for the wealthy, isn't simple. Medina moved his family to the Miami three years ago, but it took him until last summer to tie up financial ends, obtain a visa and a job in Florida.
"I would travel back and forth when I could," he said. "It was hard, but I know I am among the lucky ones."
And while Venezuelan emigrants cite the political and economic instability of the country as their main reasons for leaving, many also talk of rampant and random violence. Try living in an impoverished slum, Pal, and then talk about rampant and random violence.
Marbelia Font, 47, and her husband landed in Miami in September from Caracas to close on a newly built investment property. They thought their two daughters would enjoy the brief vacation.
But when two friends were fatally shot back home in Venezuela, Marbelia and her 13- and 8-year-old daughters stayed. Her husband returned to Venezuela, hoping to earn a visa by moving his manufacturing and construction business to the U.S. Font said he has struggled to obtain necessary legal documents from the Chavez government. And the majority of his countrymen struggle to stay alive with some bit of dignity.
She now lives in the half-furnished home they'd planned to rent in Doral, just west of Miami. It is decorated only with a picture of her husband and the girls. She and her daughters struggle with loneliness, and she is unable to work as she waits for the family's visas to come through.
"It is so hard because the girls were very close to their father, and now they only see him once every three months," she said. Before Chavez, things would have been easy, not hard, for her - things would have been hard for OTHER Venezuelans - but that's different.
- Uke Man
If you want to have a rational understanding of standard news reports, whether on foreign or domestic policy, you need to realize that it is always slanted from the perspective of the privileged (and I'm not referring only to Foxxx News - even the good ol' AP is guilty). The story below makes this perfectly clear.
I've commented in blue where needed.
- Uke Man
Rich Venezuelans heading to Florida
By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ, AP Hispanic Affairs Writer
Sat Mar 3
DORAL, Fla. - They call it "Plan B."
As Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez further tightens control of the South American country's economy, wealthy Venezuelans who once thought they could live with his socialist edicts are turning to their backup plan (if one checks the facts, "Plan A" wasn't "living with his socialist edicts"; first it was a failed coup and then a failed attempt to intimidate Chavez with well-dressed street demonstrations - which larger demonstrations by Chavez's impoverished supporters overwhelmed) — flight to the United States, particularly Florida.
Venezuelans have long gobbled up condos and pre-construction deals in Florida as investments, but the latest buyers want homes where they can live and business properties that will help them earn a green card. These are the people who resent Chavez "bribing" the slum-dwellers with bricks for houses and milk for their children - I am NOT making that up!!!
"First the people who come are the businessmen in the highest circles [Duh!!], then the losing politicians [Duh!!], then the military [Duh!!] and then the professionals [Duh!!]," said Miami-based immigration attorney Oscar Levin. "You're beginning to see the (Venezuelan) professionals." The last rats leaving the plantation (under the old regime, 8o% were impoverished; 20% were well off - the ones heading toward Miami to join the ex-Cuban aristocrats).
This latest and largest potential group of emigrants say they fear the effect Chavez's socialist policies will have on the economy (yeah, it ran really smoothly for the elite 20% and the foreign corporations - now the elite are moving to Miami - a few to maybe even work for a living) and on proposed educational reforms that could mirror the ideologically imbued education of Chavez ally and mentor, Cuba's Fidel Castro. As if the present educational system doesn't short the impoverished 80% and doesn't indoctrinate the populace on the wisdom of oligarchy. In a democracy the betterment of 80% of the population should be reason for celebration!!
"There is so much insecurity [for the elite], political insecurity [for the elite], economic insecurity [for the elite]," said Venezuelan Miguel Medina, a business executive [an elite] who moved to the Miami in August. "You don't know if a contract you signed today will be honored by the government in the future....This was definitely my plan B, but it was time to do the plan B." Until recently, the People knew the social contract would NOT be honored by the government of, by, and for the 20%.
Between 2000 — a year after Chavez took office — and 2005, the number of Venezuelans living in the U.S. doubled to about 160,000, according to the latest U.S. Census numbers. Nearly half live in Florida.
But those numbers are deceptive.
In 2005, 10,645 Venezuelans received their green cards allowing them to live in the United States, almost doubling the 6,222 who received them in 2004, according to the latest Department of Homeland Security statistics. And another 400,000 Venezuelans came to the United States in 2005 on business and tourism visas. It is unclear how many stayed.
Colombia, with nearly twice Venezuela's roughly 27 million residents, sent the same number that year.
Anecdotal evidence suggests even more are seeking to come here since Chavez's recent nationalization of Venezuela's largest telecommunications company and the electricity sector. The Venezuelan Congress also recently gave him special powers to decree laws for 18 months, and Chavez is threatening to expropriate supermarkets, stores and other businesses caught hoarding food or speculating on prices (What a bad guy!! - that would never happen here - even at gas stations) .
Medina said six family members visited him in the last two months seeking ways to relocate to the U.S. Unlike previous cycles, those seeking to leave and bring their money ("their" money??)to the U.S. now are coming from around Venezuela, not just from Caracas, said Medina, an account executive for the credit group ExpoCredit.
Meanwhile Ralph Gomez, who heads the Miami area Tower Investments group and has long specialized in real estate for South American clients, said he's received more than two dozen calls since the year began from people interested in coming to the U.S. Other agents report a similar spike.
Upper-class (Duh!!) Venezuelans and their money (Duh!!) flowed out of the country (Duh!!) after Chavez was elected in 1998 and again when he quashed an unsuccessful coup against his government in 2002, but many professionals still hoped the climate would remain friendly to business. Then came the latest nationalizations. (I guess they figure that if business isn't in control of the people's interests, that's "unfriendly") Chavez still pledges to maintain a business-friendly climate, and analysts say the government has paid fair market prices to nationalize the electric and phone companies.
Yet, with 17 percent inflation pushing the Bolivar to more than 4,000 per dollar on the black market, compared to the official rate of 2,150 Bolivars per dollar, many Venezuelans are looking to move their businesses to the U.S. or to set up a new one here. How many of these do you figure come from the 80% part of Venezuela that is impoverished?
Those who can afford it often opt for business visas that require a minimum of a $500,000 investment in a company that creates jobs in an underdeveloped area in the U.S. These folks aren't impoverished.
About 33,000 Venezuelans received some kind of work visa to come to the U.S. in 2005 — nearly a quarter of all such visas for South Americans — compared to about 17,000 in 1999.
Those who come are received with open arms in Miami (Duh!!), where their money is welcome (Duh!!) and the Cuban exile community of cry-baby displaced exploiters views Chavez as the next Fidel Castro (Duh!!). As of 2004, Venezuelans tied with Germans and Canadians as the second biggest group of foreigners purchasing homes in Florida, according to the National Association of Realtors. Only the British bought more Florida homes. Yeah, but the Germans, Canadians, and Brits weren't run out of their respective countries.
But moving to the U.S., even for the wealthy, isn't simple. Medina moved his family to the Miami three years ago, but it took him until last summer to tie up financial ends, obtain a visa and a job in Florida.
"I would travel back and forth when I could," he said. "It was hard, but I know I am among the lucky ones."
And while Venezuelan emigrants cite the political and economic instability of the country as their main reasons for leaving, many also talk of rampant and random violence. Try living in an impoverished slum, Pal, and then talk about rampant and random violence.
Marbelia Font, 47, and her husband landed in Miami in September from Caracas to close on a newly built investment property. They thought their two daughters would enjoy the brief vacation.
But when two friends were fatally shot back home in Venezuela, Marbelia and her 13- and 8-year-old daughters stayed. Her husband returned to Venezuela, hoping to earn a visa by moving his manufacturing and construction business to the U.S. Font said he has struggled to obtain necessary legal documents from the Chavez government. And the majority of his countrymen struggle to stay alive with some bit of dignity.
She now lives in the half-furnished home they'd planned to rent in Doral, just west of Miami. It is decorated only with a picture of her husband and the girls. She and her daughters struggle with loneliness, and she is unable to work as she waits for the family's visas to come through.
"It is so hard because the girls were very close to their father, and now they only see him once every three months," she said. Before Chavez, things would have been easy, not hard, for her - things would have been hard for OTHER Venezuelans - but that's different.
- Uke Man
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