Chavez makes energetic homecoming after surgery

[Viva]

28. a retort with facts

I do not believe Chavez is perfect, but for many poor people in Venezuela, he at least listen to them.
If I had the opportunity to talk to him, I would definately ask him about these problems. I have the same issue with the US president. Nothing is black and white, but things can get incrementally better.

The previous governments of Venezuela benefited the wealthy over the poor
Some were very wealthy, and many were very poor.

Chavez was elected because of this

Crime could go up, if there is better reporting. I do not know if this is the case, but it is a possibility. Previously, the police could have protected the wealthy over the poor and the perception of a crime free society could be created.

Here is relately fair article about this from the Crisis Group
http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/latin-america/venezuela/38%20Violence%20and%20Politics%20in%20Venezuela.pdf

As was later evident, stability was to an extent a mirage. Excessively
dependent on oil revenue to maintain social spending,
the system was unable to cope with a prolonged decline in that
revenue; social indicators began to deteriorate markedly in the
1980s. In 1987, 37 per cent of the population lived in poverty,
according to official figures. By 1992 this was 66.5 per cent,
with 27 per cent in extreme poverty. Julia Buxton, The Failure
of Political Reform in Venezuela (Aldershot, 2001), p. 41.
r

A significant part of the problem was inherited from previous
administrations. In 1999, the incoming President
Chávez was faced with a country in which homicide rates
had tripled in less than two decades, and many institutions
were in the process of collapse, eroded by corruption and
impunity.

In Venezuela, people are killed for a cell
phone, children die as a result of a stray bullet from one of
the millions of firearms in civilian hands, and youngsters
are victims of police brutality or the settling of accounts
between gangs in poor neighbourhoods.

The last excerpt could be written about this country. There are cities in this country that have similar crime rates and we are allegedly a rich country. I could retort each Venezuelan anecdote with a US one.

I remember 20+ years ago, visiting Mexico and seeing armed guards (Army) at the Pemex station. I thought, "I could not imagine that in the US." Unfortunately this is so common in the US it does not cause people to bat an eye. There are check-points through out the country, under the guise of border control. We live in a police state, and although it has not been the cause of crime rates dropping in the US, if one wanted to spin the statistics that way, a case could be made. Police states have lower crime rates, but I do not argue for that type of governance.

As far as arming the military, Venezuela's spending pales in comparison to that of the US. Venezuela is not attempting to have a military presence in every other country. I would understand if you felt this way and moved to Iceland or Costa Rica or even Germany. But you moved to a more militaristic country than Venezuela. Gone are the days when most US citizens felt safer around police officers.

As far as being friends with and supporting dictators and other corrupt governments, perhaps you should look at the US government also. Mubarak's regime is just one example. There are many who we support, sell weapons to and trade with, who are heinous regimes.

No country is perfect, but I do not think that the opposition in Venezuela would necessarily make the country better. Giving away the countries natural resources to foreign countries is never a good idea. I believe that if Hugo Chavez did not attempt to right this wrong, there would never be articles about this in our papers.