Venezuela Brief: Countdown to Tyranny II
by The Menges Hemispheric Security Project
Amid oil opulence, Venezuelans are now spending hours in line waiting to buy basic foodstuffs. For several months now there have been reports of food shortages. Supermarket shelves remain stocked with aged whiskey and imported wine, but basic products are nowhere to be found. First there was a shortage of sugar and people started to use brown sugar when they could find it. Then there was no meat so Venezuelan’s could only eat chicken since fish is too expensive. Next the supermarkets had no milk, cooking oil or black beans. There are now no eggs, no powdered milk, nothing. To go out to the supermarket, people need to wear low-heeled shoes because they have to walk a lot in order to get what they need, despite leftist President Hugo Chavez’s social program that promises to provide low-cost groceries for the majority poor.
Where’s the beef? Chavista socialism is causing food shortages in Venezuela.
[More]In an effort to resolve this problem, the government has, among other things, removed taxes on certain goods. Nevertheless, the situation appears to be getting worse as products have not become less expensive. There is not only trouble with food shortages but also with medicines and cosmetics. People in Venezuela say that it is hard to find certain labels, for example, and they have to buy things of lesser quality. Sometimes there are areas of the supermarket that are completely empty. Many people wonder if they are living in a war zone and some are beginning to feel that what they are enduring already resembles Cuba.
Businesses say price controls on staple foods are so low they discourage investment and force stores to sell at a loss. Venezuelans waste several hours a week trawling for food. Retailers ration their supplies, and some even stamp customers’ hands so they do not line up twice. A black market has sprung up where informal vendors illegally peddle bags of sugar, beans and precious powdered milk — for as much as double the regulated price.
Of course, Chavez doesn’t acknowledge this problem and says all of this is to help the poor. After all, when you can buy a gallon of gasoline for 16 cents, who needs to eat?
Protests
Several media outlets in Caracas have reported today that the new protests where thousands of students from all over the country participated against Chavez’s Constitutional “reforms,” left many students wounded. There were violent confrontations with the police in many Universities and there are reports of protesters having bullet and pellet wounds. Allegedly, one is in critical condition. Some newspapers have published news that many students have been detained by the authorities.
Demonstrations also occurred in other cities: Maracay ,Valencia ,Yaracuy and Puerto La Cruz and there is information that many professors joined their students. For this Sunday, all the student leaders will join their forces and will march in a huge demonstration to reject Chavez’s plans to turn Venezuela into an oppressive and tyrannical country.
Venezuela al da: cuenta regresiva hacia la Tirana – II
A pesar que en Venezuela abunda el petrleo, Chvez esta llevando a su pas al totalitarismo siguiendo los pasos de Fidel Castro. Por meses, ha habido reportes de escasez de alimentos bsicos. Los estantes de los supermercados estn llenos de whisky y vinos caros, pero los productos bsicos brillan por su ausencia. Primero fue el azcar y la poblacin empez a usar azcar rubia cuando la lograban encontrar. Luego haba escasez de carne y los venezolanos empezaron a consumir pollo ya que el pescado es muy caro. Despus la gente no poda encontrar leche, aceite y frijoles. No hay huevos, leche en polvo; nada. Para salir de compras, las personas tienen que usar zapatillas ya que tienen que caminar por horas para tratar de obtener lo bsico a pesar que el programa social de Hugo Chvez prometa dar alimentos a bajo costo a los pobres. Es un desastre. Como no hay leche baja en grasa, la gente tiene que mezclar agua con calcio.
En un esfuerzo por resolver el problema, el gobierno elimin los impuestos a ciertos alimentos. Pero la situacin cada vez est peor. Los productos no bajan de precio; pero no solo eso; tambin faltan medicinas y cosmticos de ciertas marcas y los venezolanos se ven obligados a usar productos de peor calidad. Muchas veces hay zonas enteras de los supermercados que estn completamente vacas. Muchos se preguntan si estn viviendo en una zona de guerra o si ya estn sufriendo los efectos de la “cubanizacin” de Venezuela.
Las PYMES (pequeas y medianas empresas) dicen que los controles de precios sobre los productos bsicos desaniman a los inversionistas quienes se ven forzados a cerrar sus negocios tomando prdidas. Los venezolanos desperdician varias horas de su tiempo tratando de encontrar comida. Los minoristas muchas veces tienen que racionar su stock y algunos ponen sellos en las manos de los consumidores para que no regresen a comprar. Un mercado negro ya esta operando donde los informales venden productos bsicos al doble del precio regular.
Por supuesto, Chvez no reconoce este problema y dice que todo lo hace para ayudar a los pobres. Despus de todo, cuando puedes comprar un galn de gasolina por 16 centavos, quien necesita comer?
Protestas
Varios medios de comunicacin de la capital venezolana informaron hoy que las nuevas protestas en donde participaron miles de jvenes en todo el pas, dejaron varios estudiantes heridos. Hubo enfrentamientos con la polica en varias universidades y hay reportes de estudiantes heridos de bala y perdigones. (Hay un estudiante que se encuentra en grave estado). Algunos diarios han publicado noticias de varios jvenes que han sido detenidos por las autoridades mientras marchaban.
Las manifestaciones estudiantiles se realizaron tambin en las ciudades de Maracay, Valencia, Yaracuy y Puerto La Cruz, y hay reportes que varios profesores se unieron a sus alumnos. Para este domingo, todos los lderes estudiantiles tienen planeado unir a sus agrupaciones y organizar una gran manifestacin en rechazo de las pretensiones de Chvez de convertir a Venezuela en un estado opresor y tirnico.
Mr. Gaffney is the host of Secure Freedom Radio, a nationally-syndicated radio program heard weeknights throughout the country. He is an associate author of highly acclaimed Shariah: The Threat to America and the publisher of over a dozen other books and monographs from the Center for Security Policy Press.
In April 1987, Mr. Gaffney was nominated by President Reagan to become the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy, the senior position in the Defense Department with responsibility for policies involving U.S.-USSR relations, nuclear forces, arms control, missile defense policy and U.S.-European defense ties. He acted in that capacity for seven months during which time, he was the Chairman of the prestigious High Level Group, NATO’s senior politico-military committee. He also represented the Secretary of Defense in key U.S.-Soviet negotiations and ministerial meetings.
From August 1983 until November 1987, Mr. Gaffney was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy under Assistant Secretary Richard Perle.
From February 1981 to August 1983, Mr. Gaffney was a Professional Staff Member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, chaired by the late Senator John Tower (R-Texas). And, in the latter 1970’s, Mr. Gaffney served as an aide to the late Senator Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson (D-Washington) in the areas of defense and foreign policy.
Mr. Gaffney holds a Master of Arts degree in International Studies from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.
Mr. Gaffney’s leadership has been recognized by numerous organizations including: the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Award (1987), the U.S. Business and Industry Council’s Defender of the National Interest Award (1994), the Navy League of the United States’ Alfred Thayer Mahan Literary Achievement Award (1999), and the Zionist Organization of America’s “Louis Brandeis Award” (2003), the Western Conservative Summit’s Stephen H. Long Award (2015), the Council for National Policy’s George Washington Military Leadership Award (2016) and the IMPACT Award from Ginni Thomas and United in Purpose (2017).
Mr. Gaffney was born in 1953 and resides in the Washington, D.C. area.
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