But again, since you mentioned that last vote once more, the one that happened AFTER the document was written, the overwhelming majority of the electorate did not approve it.
You can't get away from that fact, no matter how much you continue to make this conversation about me (which is not an appropriate strategy for discussion).
You continue to avoid the issues of violence soaring out of control, and the fact that a blind moron with oil reserve money could "improve" things like public debt or housing or any number of things...even while siphoning away a fortune in public funds to pay for his reelection campaign and bribes. And corruption? It's a free-for-all in VZ. You know this. You ignore it.
If you would look at the references I provided, right there in POSTS 72 and 73, you would see the evidence you say I "need" to provide. I provided it. TWO DAYS AGO. And one of the quotes, with regard to corruption statistics, came from a source YOU put forward--not me. I would hope you'd read your own links. Nonetheless, I provided the most recent data from that same source--and it showed that the problem had worsened, not improved. Here is that link YET AGAIN--since you apparently missed it the first time. http://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2012/results/
You must read the information provided, because when you do, your "skepticism"would be immediately abated. You would learn, if you read it, that "With some 19,336 murders last year, Venezuela has become one of the western hemisphere's most violent countries ..." and that the country suffered "an average of 53 murders per day in 2011."
If you need to read up on this topic (and apparently you do, based on your commentary here), and the links I have ALREADY PROVIDED are not sufficient, here are some more edifying links--I urge you to read them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_Venezuela
Venezuela is among the most violent places of Latin America. Class tension has long been a part of life in the South American country, where armed robberies, carjackings and kidnappings are frequent. In 2009, the homicide rate was approximately 57 per 100,000, one of the world’s highest, having tripled in the previous decade.[1] The capital Caracas has the second greatest homicide rate of any large city in the world, with 92 homicides per 100,000 residents.[2]
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/citing-crime-norway-close-venezuela-embassy-17887818
Norway will close its embassy in Venezuela because of rampant crime in the South American country and move the diplomatic mission to neighboring Colombia, its ambassador said Wednesday...
Norway's embassy in Caracas has been operating for almost 45 years.
In polls, Venezuelans consistently rate violent crime as their top concern.
The government of President Hugo Chavez estimates that more than 14,000 people were killed in Venezuela last year. That gave the country a homicide rate of 50 per 100,000 people and made it one of the most violent countries in Latin America and the world.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/11/in-venezuela-crime-spree-_n_957345.html
Last year, Venezuela's homicide rate was more than double that of Mexico, which is engulfed in drug-related violence, and the third highest in the region after Honduras and El Salvador. The Venezuelan Violence Observatory, a nongovernmental organization that tracks violent crime, says there were about 17,600 homicides last year, compared with a 2009 estimate of 15,241 in the U.S., which is over 10 times more populous than Venezuela.
The government puts the murder rate at 48 per 100,000 people, up from 19 per 100,000 in 1998, the year Hugo Chavez was elected president. In polls, Venezuelans consistently rate criminal violence as their biggest concern, but they tend to blame societal and bureaucratic failures, and so far it doesn't seem to be affecting Chavez's support ahead of next year's presidential election campaign.
Still, the International Crisis Group, an independent Brussels-based organization focused on conflict prevention, says crime and violence are out of control and can "seriously threaten Venezuela's medium- and long-term stability."
In a report issued last month it says the main reason is that the public doesn't trust authorities to enforce the law. Chavez's government "seems unable but in part also unwilling to safeguard military and law enforcement institutions against criminal influences and corruption, fight organized and common crime and protect the population."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-16349118
The OVV says violent crime has risen steadily in Venezuela since 1999 when President Chavez took office. In that year only 4,550 murders were registered.
The group did not give an overall reason for the rising violence, but said the problem was fuelled by impunity, with the great majority of killings going unpunished.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_Venezuela
Venezuela has been one of the most corrupt countries in TNI surveys since they started in 1995, ranking 38th out of 41 that year[3] and performing similarly badly in following years (e.g. 158th out of 180 countries in 2008, the worst in Latin America except Haiti,[4] and one of the 10 most corrupt countries on the index in 2012, ranked 165th out of 176 (tied with Burundi, Chad, and Haiti)[5]).
http://www.ibtimes.com/corruption-venezuela-threatens-human-rights-hrw-report-723769
Human Rights Watch (HRW) condemned Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday in a new report that details how the abuse and consolidation of power under his watch has taken a heavy toll on human rights.
For years, President Chavez and his followers have been building a system in which the government has free rein to threaten and punish Venezuelans who interfere with their political agenda, said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at HRW, who noted that the human rights situation is worse now than it was four years ago.
Today that system is firmly entrenched, and the risks for judges, journalists, and rights defenders are greater than they've ever been under Chavez.
The president's power lies in all Venezuelan institutions, the report claims, and HRW has little hope that its report, which provides concrete examples of corruption within the courts, media and military, will change Chavez's policies. The last time HRW issued a damning report on the country, the government allegedly detained and then expelled group representatives by force.
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/120612-636089-venezuela-ranks-tops-in-corruption-in-hemisphere.htm
Venezuela's budget is secret, its oil earnings are secret, its electoral mechanisms are secret, and its media are largely under government control. Whistle-blowers are hit with draconian punishments. As for the health of the president, who apparently is dying of cancer — well, that's a secret, too.
Meanwhile, a U.K. nongovernment organization, Tax Justice Network, reported that about $400 billion in Venezuelan capital has fled to offshore banks...
Venezuelan oil expert Gustavo Coronel points out that some 1,500 government-linked bankers and government elites have managed to take at least $95 billion of the windfall, while the government has squandered billions more on arms purchases, "free" oil to Cuba, imports of food and now refined oil, and waste associated with newly nationalized state-owned industries.
The lesson here is that large amounts of cash don't create wealth in the hands of strongmen; they create only corruption.Venezuela's descent to rock bottom on TI's rankings is evidence of this massive downward spiral.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/13/world/americas/hugo-chavezs-movement-threatened-by-his-health.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
CARACAS, Venezuela — The bottlenecks at a major port were so bad this year that Christmas trees from Canada were delayed for weeks, and when they did show up they cost hundreds of dollars. A government-run ice cream factory opened with great fanfare, only to shut down a day later because of a shortage of basic ingredients. Foreign currency is so hard to come by that automakers cannot get parts and new cars are almost impossible to buy.
...Mr. Chávez’s own record is mixed. After doing little to address a deep housing shortage, he has given away tens of thousands of homes, but the rush to build meant that many were plagued by construction flaws or other problems. He has used price controls to make food affordable for the poor, but that has contributed to shortages in basic goods. He created a popular program of neighborhood clinics often staffed by Cuban doctors, but hospitals frequently lack basic equipment.
There is no doubt that living conditions have improved for the poor under Mr. Chávez, and that is the greatest source of his popularity. But the improvements came at a time when high oil prices were pouring money into the country and fueling economic growth, which some analysts say would have led to similar improvements under many leaders, even some with more market-friendly policies...
If Mr. Chávez does indeed leave office, whoever replaces him will face a series of economic challenges. Most economists predict growth will slow next year, and some foresee a recession, after a year marked by a huge jump in government spending aimed at getting Mr. Chávez re-elected. An eventual devaluation of the currency, the bolívar, seems likely, and many also expect a rise in the already high inflation rate. The oil industry, the most important sector of the economy and a crucial source of government revenue, is stagnant and needs vast investment to increase production levels.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/7605474/Former-allies-of-Hugo-Chavez-blow-the-whistle-on-corrupt-dynasty.html
Wilmer Azuaje joined Mr Chávez's revolution a decade ago and worked with the president's family to turn their home state of Barinas into a hotbed of political change.
He is now the Chávez family's most outspoken foe. "They turned out to be the most corrupt ever. They betrayed us," he told the Guardian.
Mr Azuaje claims that in Barinas farms, businesses, banks and government contracts have been taken over by the president's parents and five brothers.
The Chavez dynasty certainly has a tight hold over the region. Mr Chávez's father ruled as governor of Barinas, a showcase of the revolution, for a decade until handing over to the president's brother, Adán, in an election marred by fraud allegations.
= new reply since forum marked as read
, sometimes, when people do that.
