Venezuela: Why capitalism, not socialism, is to blame for corruption
Venezuela: Why capitalism, not socialism, is to blame for corruption
Saturday, June 18, 2016
By Steve Ellner
Oil didn't wreck Venezuela's economy, socialism did. That's what Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry, of the Washington-based conservative think tank Ethics and Public Policy Center, wrote earlier this year in his reflection on Venezuela's deepening economic crisis.
Gobry, a prolific writer for Forbes and the Wall Street Journal, criticised Venezuelan analysts who scapegoat oil, even though he recognised that declining oil prices have aggravated the nation's difficulties.
The culprit is clear and obvious, Golbry contends. The problem is Venezuela's authoritarian socialism.
The deteriorating quality of life in Venezuela feeds into Gobry's uncompromising statements, as well as those of the right-wing Venezuelan opposition.
The pressing problems facing Venezuela, ranging from triple-digit inflation to hours-long lines to purchase basic goods and visible cases of corruption have provided the opposition with ammunition to discredit the left's political and economic project.
More:'https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/61966