Chavez’s Weekly Show Returns, Gas Price Rise Announced

[Say_What]

Meanwhile, after the Mercosur meeting in Rio LatAm presidents were invited to a practice at the Portela Samba School. Chavez looks like he's enjoying himself (photo below).

<clips>

Caracas, January 22, 2007 (venezuelanalysis.com)— Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s weekly program, Aló Presidente, returned yesterday after a five month break, and was the first since Chavez’ resounding victory in the December 2006 Presidential elections. During the program, which lasted almost 6 hours, Chavez announced—among a wide range of other things—proposals for a gas price hike, a new tax on luxury goods, and requested that the recently announced state takeover of the country’s main telecommunications company, CANTV, get underway as soon as possible.

Gas price hike

Chavez reminded people that in his eight years of government he had not touched the price of gas and pointed out that the main beneficiaries had been the middle and upper classes because, “the poor take the metro and the bus.” He added that it was an outrage to sell at the present price saying “it would be better to give it away.” Venezuelans have enjoyed a subsidized gas price which has remained at around 70 to 97 bolívares per liter (around 3 to 4 cents of a US dollar) for the last 9 years. PDVSA, Venezuela’s state oil firm, currently loses 80 bolívares (around 4 cents) on every liter sold on the domestic market, which amounts to nearly US$1 billion yearly, according to the Venezuelan daily El Universal.

Antonio Ledezma, the former Mayor of Caracas and leader of opposition party Alianza Bravo Pueblo (Brave People’s Alliance) rejected the announcement today, calling it a contradiction in Chavez’ discourse. Ledezma cited Chavez’ criticism of the 1989 gas price hike which led to mass rioting across the country, known as the Caracazo.

However, unlike the neoliberal measures adopted by the Carlos Andrés Pérez government of the time, which increased bus fares by over 50%, the current proposal to raise the price of gas will, according to Chavez, bypass the poor. Although he did not give an indication of what the new gas price would be, Chavez asked his Minister for Energy and Oil, Rafael Ramírez, to present proposals for the new price which would not affect transport, food, or inflation.

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=2199

[originalpckelly]

1. A nice little party President Chavez is having. He looks like a capitalist...

looks like some type of shindig Bush would hold, but keep from us because of his puritanical nature.

[1932]

4. Yeah. Standing there with the ex-factory worker and the daughter of a guy

murdered by fascist Pinochet. They look like capitalists. :eyes:

[Judi Lynn]

6. Well, it's not HIS party. The event was the Mercosur meeting.

The Samba dancers are Brazilian. He attended the Mercosur meeting IN Brazil.



From left, Ecuador's President Rafael Correa, Bolivia's President Evo Morales,Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez,and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, look at samba dancers in a ceremony during the Mercosur Summit in Rio de Janeiro,Thursday, Jan. 18, 2007. (AP Photo/ Andre Penner)

Photo Credit: AP Photo

[redqueen]

38. Are you trying to be funny? n/t

[LoZoccolo]

2. Is this a Chavez infomercial?

Looks like he's telling us how we can make money placing tiny classified ads.

[1932]

5. ...like the one he did for Chomsky?

[roody]

3. Michelle is having fun.

[ohio2007]

7. Going to stop subsidies and have the middle class pay market value?

Sounds like he listened to the Iranian plan for suspending price fixing. What else will he announce over the next 18 months?

[Judi Lynn]

16. Where are you getting your "subsidies" information? Would you be good enough to post a link? n/t

[ohio2007]

26. the link is in the original post

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=2199
from the article;
.....
Venezuelans have enjoyed a subsidized gas price which has remained at around 70 to 97 bolívares per liter

subsidies will remain in place for the poor. Maybe you were distracted from reading the text by the pics ? ;) lol

[UTUSN]

8. Why YAASS, why shouldn't the residents of a country PAY MORE for their own resources

And the followers of Saint Hugo will have a REASON for EVERY little detail---note above how it's "explained" that he is standing with offspring of victims of OTHER totalitarians.

And then watch how those of us who detest totalitarians of BOTH the Right AND the Left ---and who cannot refrain from exercising our own free speech and opinions---will be PERSONALLY flamed as "DLC capitalist/corporatists" or freepers or trolls. Not to mention now BLOCKED/SHUNNED/and eventually BANNED.

Quack quack. Walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, IS A DUCK!!1 Wants 25 year terms of "office". Quack. Shuts down opposition media (oh, yeah, it's a wingnut REBEL outfit). Quack. Gets extraordinary "presidential" powers. Quack quack.

It's a new quack EVERY DAY!!1

[Bacchus39]

17. you forgot insulted and belittled

if you did that to Hugo in Venezuela you could go to jail. Chavistas aren't even Democrats. they are socialists and communists. criticisms of El Commandante Chiquito are not welcome.

[High Plains]

19. That is total bullshit.

Tell me how many people are imprisoned in Venezuela for insulting and belittling Chavez.

[Flanker]

21. Neo-con Lies: Chavez is a donkey fucker

Ohhh I am so scared.

[Bacchus39]

23. do you have a link to that?

Chavez is a donkey fucker?? I've heard that before.

[Flanker]

25. Have you ever opened a venezuelan paper or watched TV?

You can understand spanish there is no excuse for ignorance.

[happydreams]

43. I think Bacchus likes

donkeys too and wanted to know more. :evilgrin:

[Say_What]

49. Whatever you're smokin', it's working... FACTS Please???

:crazy:

[High Plains]

18. Pobrecito n/t

[happydreams]

45. "Saint Hugo". Now I'm not religious, agnostic>atheist, but

that should be put up to a vote in Venezuela. Sure would be interesting to see the results.

[Judi Lynn]

9. Interesting news on CANTV:

President Chavez also urged the new Minister for Telecommunications, Jesse Chacón, to speed up the process of nationalizing the telecommunications company CANTV. The re-nationalization of CANTV was one of a series of dramatic new measures announced by Chavez during his swearing-in ceremony earlier this month. Yesterday Chavez indicated that this would be one of the first laws to be drafted under the Enabling Law—likely to be granted by the National Assembly in coming days.

In justifying the state takeover of the private company, Chavez pointed out that “ did not deliver on its promise,” adding that three quarters of the country still had no access to landlines. Chavez also said that the present owners of CANTV bought the company at a giveaway price. “CANTV was given away, the way other companies were. All that infrastructure that took years and years wasn’t paid for by those who bought it,” said Chavez.
(snip)

Apparently glossing over the fact these businesses were formerly nationalized has become a requirement for US-readership designed articles. A few DU posters have indicated they had no idea the oil industry was nationalized in the 1970's, either.

[redqueen]

39. The media here glosses over a HELL of a lot...

what's infuriating is that when those who have been fooled are shown that they were lied to, they shoot the messenger. Craziness. Maybe a version of anti-commie hysteria, even?

[Freddie Stubbs]

10. And US gas prices are FALLING

U.S. gasoline prices fall about 14 cents/gallon: survey
Reuters
Sunday, January 21, 2007; 4:19 PM


NEW YORK (Reuters) - The average retail price for a gallon of gasoline in the United States fell nearly 14 cents over the past two weeks, but the drop may be over, as cheaper gas lures more people to hit the road, according to a leading industry analyst.

The national average for self-serve, regular, unleaded gas was about $2.184 a gallon on January 19, down 13.6 cents per gallon since January 5, according to the nationwide Lundberg survey of about 7,000 gas stations.

The price was 14.73 cents per gallon below that of January 20, 2006.

The gasoline price decline outpaced the fall in crude oil prices, which slid $4.32 to $56.31 per barrel on January 19.

more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/21/AR2007012100604.html

[alecshawn]

11. Great

This fool opens his mouth way too much. He is not liberal or a progessive. He is a socialist and even to the left of that...NOT GOOD.

[Judi Lynn]

12. Why not spend some time showing DU you know what you're talking about. How is he not a liberal or a

progressive? You'd be doing everyone a favor to clarify it.

You are aware, are you not, that it's the people of VENEZUELA, as in the majority of people, who are the ones who matter in this situation, aren't you? They elected him as THEIR President by a very wide margin.

THEY are the ones to whom it matters.

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Judi Lynn]

15. Post that link you've got to any article which shows anyone NOT voting to re-elect Chavez

was in trouble.

You apparently are unaware that DU'ers were around for the last elections in Venezuela and know very well that they are always very heavily overseen by international election monitors and observers.

_{George W. Bush,} on the other hand barred foreign election observers here. Any idea why?

[High Plains]

20. Wow, how much bullshit can be spread on one thread?

"a no vote for Chavez is a death sentence"? Puh-leeze.

Progressive liberal, you say? Sounds more like a recalcitrant anti-communist.

[Flanker]

22. Its a freeper troll

Nobody can be that dense.

[skipos]

33. "They elected him as THEIR President by a very wide margin."

And we elected Reagan and Nixon by wide margins. There is no harm in criticizing politicians, even when they are popular.

[redqueen]

40. Sure, criticisms are fine. Right Wing Lies, on the other hand...

will not be tolerated.

[Name removed]

48. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Judi Lynn]

13. Food for thought:Chávez is a threat because he offers the alternative of a decent society

Chávez is a threat because he offers the alternative of a decent society

Venezuela's president is using oil revenues to liberate the poor - no wonder his enemies want to overthrow him

John Pilger
Saturday May 13, 2006
The Guardian

I have spent the past three weeks filming in the hillside barrios of Caracas, in streets and breeze-block houses that defy gravity and torrential rain and emerge at night like fireflies in the fog. Caracas is said to be one of the world's toughest cities, yet I have known no fear; the poorest have welcomed my colleagues and me with a warmth characteristic of ordinary Venezuelans but also with the unmistakable confidence of a people who know that change is possible and who, in their everyday lives, are reclaiming noble concepts long emptied of their meaning in the west: "reform", "popular democracy", "equity", "social justice" and, yes, "freedom".

The other night, in a room bare except for a single fluorescent tube, I heard these words spoken by the likes of Ana Lucia Fernandez, aged 86, Celedonia Oviedo, aged 74, and Mavis Mendez, aged 95. A mere 33-year-old, Sonia Alvarez, had come with her two young children. Until about a year ago, none of them could read and write; now they are studying mathematics. For the first time in its modern era, Venezuela has almost 100% literacy.

This achievement is due to a national programme, called Mision Robinson, designed for adults and teenagers previously denied an education because of poverty. Mision Ribas is giving everyone a secondary school education, called a bachillerato. (The names Robinson and Ribas refer to Venezuelan independence leaders from the 19th century.) Named, like much else here, after the great liberator Simon Bolivar, "Bolivarian", or people's, universities have opened, introducing, as one parent told me, "treasures of the mind, history and music and art, we barely knew existed". Under Hugo Chávez, Venezuela is the first major oil producer to use its oil revenue to liberate the poor.

Mavis Mendez has seen, in her 95 years, a parade of governments preside over the theft of tens of billions of dollars in oil spoils, much of it flown to Miami, together with the steepest descent into poverty ever known in Latin America; from 18% in 1980 to 65% in 1995, three years before Chávez was elected. "We didn't matter in a human sense," she said. "We lived and died without real education and running water, and food we couldn't afford. When we fell ill, the weakest died. In the east of the city, where the mansions are, we were invisible, or we were feared. Now I can read and write my name, and so much more; and whatever the rich and their media say, we have planted the seeds of true democracy, and I am full of joy that I have lived to witness it."
(snip/...)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1773966,00.html

[Bacchus39]

24. Chavez criticism alarm system still working as planned I see

n/t

[1932]

27. When the criticism is vapid and uninformed, it would be shameful not to reply.

[Bacchus39]

28. here is some criticism for you

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070124/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/venezuela_opposition

[1932]

29. Communists have been criticial of Chavez for years.

It's not new that a communist is criticizing Chavez.

Good book to read on this:
http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1844675335&id=dibXGgdZJagC&pg=PP1&lpg=PP1&ots=r4cfnU7vfh&dq=richard+gott+chavez&sig=ikS_EEdHdNJckCX7V6xyAgRaFgU

As for this quote by Luis,

Miquilena said Chavez's so-called "21st Century Socialism" has "no basis or doctrine of any nature, nor does it have a theory it is based upon."

"Nobody knows what it is, not even Chavez has it clear. Anything that occurs to him he puts in the minestrone," he said.

This is exactly the criticism the far left had of FDR (you can read about it in Alter's biography, which came out last year). Guess what? Trying everything and not being doctrinal is what saved the US from the Depression (which was also a problem of the very rich getting rich and the middle class disappearing, and it was solved by saving the middle class and setting the interests of the very rich aside).

[Bacchus39]

30. not on DU. that would be something new!!

n/t

[1932]

31. Who on DU do you think is a communist?

And, what do you think a communist is?

[Bacchus39]

32. besides you?

there are plenty.

[ohio2007]

34. LOL, you guys are funny ! a little stick and jab

I hope humor is where this all remains.
SOme Communists don't like socialists and I think Chavez said he wants to build a socialist utopia or something along those lines.

[1932]

46. The fact that you think I'm communist says a great deal about your credibility

[Say_What]

51. McCARTHYISM.....

alive and well on DU. Your RW comments never fail to reveal who you are.

[Raydawg1234]

36. Communism is government control and planning of the economy

from a recent article about the Chavez gov:

<clips>

President Hugo Chavez's administration plans to begin taxing idle farm lands in April, Venezuela's tax agency said Tuesday.

Under legislation approved in 2001, landholders must pay a tax if they fail to register their lands and put them to adequate use by following a government-designed production plan.

http://www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome.shtml

This is why we describe Chavez as a communist.

Communists don't care about individual property rights, they think that everything should be nationalized and used for the "common good."

if you sympathies with this practice, than you can be characterized as leaning toward communism.

[PeaceProgProsp]

37. The purpose of the tax (exactly like commercial property tax in the US) is to

make sure that people don't hord land and do nothing with it. The land has to be at least as productive as the tax. If not, you sell it to someone who can get some value out of it. This ENCOURAGES private enterprise.

If the government took ownership of the land and then centrally decided HOW to use it, that would be communism.

However, the point of the tax is to shift ownership of the land from a private party not using the land to another private party who will use the land.

That's capitalism, my friend, and we do exactly the same thing in the US.

[happydreams]

44. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing that PPP.

Topics on Chavez and other progressive countries are giving us all a glimpse of their workings.
:hi:

[Say_What]

47. BWAHAHAHAHAHA

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

the ignorance of muriKans never ceases to amaze me.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[rman]

53. It is the people's government and the people's economy -

of course *we* want to control/regulate *our* economy.

Even the US economy is regulated. It's just that for free market fundamentalists any regulation is to much.

Oh btw: Chavez does not want to nationalize "everything" - so by your own definition Chavez is not a communist.

[Say_What]

50. It's the 'commie under every bed syndrome'...

where you been, boy? The Cold War ended in 1989. You would have been great during the McCarthy era.

[Flanker]

35. Miquelena is not a communist

More like a kleptocrat, there was a scandal around 2000 where the government signed contracts with his own paper company.

[Say_What]

52. Big Fuckin' Deal.... it helps to look at Miquilen's background...

Seems Miquilena had presidential ambitions of his own...

<clips>

...So why would a supreme court that was appointed by Chavez' party and his supporters rule against the government and in favor of the coup plotters? The reason is complex and almost certainly has to do with the fact that the members of the Supreme Court were by and large nominated by Luis Miquilena, the former minister of the interior and of justice.

Miquilena, who is considered a "moderate" with presidential aspirations of his own, left the government last Fall and recently formed his own political party, "Solidarity", along with several other of his followers, who broke from Chavez' coalition in the National Assembly. Many suspect that Miquilena was involved in the coup attempt and rumors were circulating before the coup that in the event of a coup he would be named as president.

As is so common in Venezuelan culture, personal loyalty counts for a lot and this gives Miquilena significant influence over the Supreme Court. William Lara, the president of the National Assembly and member of Chavez' party, claimed, prior to the court's final decision to dismiss the charges, that "Luis Miquilena, together with leaders of Acción Democrática is putting pressure on the Supreme Court, so that they make a decision contrary to the rule of law and in favor of the accused officials."

It does not help, though, that Chavez, in his weekly radio and television address, went even further than Lara and said that he has "possible evidence that there are judges who are being manipulated from outside the country by people who have a lot of money."

He then went on to make a comparison to a baseball game, his favorite imagery, where an umpire who consistently makes bad rulings ought to be removed from the game. The next day all of the main newspapers ran headlines that Chavez was threatening the independence of the Supreme Court. Even if Chavez' claims turn out to be true, making such a public announcement was strategically a foolish move, given how fragile his hold is on the presidency.

Some of the evidence Chavez mentioned has since surfaced, which appears to show an effort of manipulation on the part of the opposition, in the form of a tape recorded phone conversation between a leader of Acción Democratica and an associate of Luis Miquilena's, where they discuss the need to put pressure on one of the Supreme Court justices.

http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2002-08/15wilpert.cfm

[CRH]

41. Raising the price of subsidized gas ....

from correct me if I'm wrong, 15 cents a gallon. Oh my, capitalists and americans should have such problems. Think he will double it to the cost of production, about thirty cents a gallon? The middle and upper class will then subsidize rice and beans for the poor, can this be fair?

And those undetermined taxes on luxury items, in a society that many work very hard just to eat, well that is a disgusting give away, almost like socialism.

Or ... is it social compassion. Let actions and history write the ending.

[Flanker]

42. It costs me $2.00 to fill up my Camry

And $2.50 if it is premium, after this increase it might double, and the gas will be sold its production value.