Chavez gets powers to remake Venezuela

Dondi

Dondi

Dondi
Better gas up while it's cheap.

CARACAS, Venezuela - A congress wholly loyal to President Hugo Chavez approved a law Wednesday granting him authority to enact sweeping measures by decree....

Chavez, who is beginning a fresh six-year term, says the legislation will be the start of a new era of "maximum revolution" during which he will consolidate Venezuela's transformation into a socialist society. His critics are calling it a radical lurch toward authoritarianism by a leader with unchecked power.

Hundreds of Chavez supporters wearing red — the color of Venezuela's ruling party — gathered in the plaza, waving signs reading "Socialism is democracy," as lawmakers read out passages of the law giving the president special powers for 18 months to transform 11 broadly defined areas, including the economy, energy and defense....

Chavez, a former paratroop commander who easily won re-election in December, has said he will use the law to decree nationalizations of Venezuela's largest telecommunications company and the electricity sector, slap new taxes on the rich, and impose greater state control over the oil and natural gas industries.
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Pete

Pete

Repete
ylexot said:
Nah. Not worth it. Let them implode on their own.
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Cuba (stuck in the 1940's), North Korea (isolated and starving), Vietnam (see North Korea), the Soviet Union (Heh, gone) are all such major players now I can understand why socialism is such a hot commodity. :yay:
 
ylexot

ylexot

Super Genius
Pete said:
Cuba (stuck in the 1940's), North Korea (isolated and starving), Vietnam (see North Korea), the Soviet Union (Heh, gone) are all such major players now I can understand why socialism is such a hot commodity. :yay:
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I thought Vietnam was thriving...since they embraced capitalism
 
Pete

Pete

Repete
ylexot said:
I thought Vietnam was thriving...since they embraced capitalism
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Have they? I know they normalized trade relations but not capitalism. If they did they by definition are not socialist, they are under a oligarchy.
 
ylexot

ylexot

Super Genius
Pete said:
Have they? I know they normalized trade relations but not capitalism. If they did they by definition are not socialist, they are under a oligarchy.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam
The Vietnam War destroyed much of the economy of Vietnam. Upon taking power, the Government created a command economy in the nation. Collectivization of farms, factories and economic capital was implemented, and millions of people were put to work in government programs. For many decades, Vietnam's economy was plagued with inefficiency and corruption in state programs, poor quality and underproduction and restrictions on economic activities and trade. It also suffered from the trade embargo from the United States and most of Europe after the Vietnam War. Subsequently, the trade partners of the Communist blocs began to erode. In 1986, the Sixth Party Congress introduced significant economic reforms with market economy elements as part of a broad economic reform package called "đổi mới" (Renovation). Private ownership was encouraged in industries, commerce and agriculture. On one hand, Vietnam achieved around 8% annual GDP growth from 1990 to 1997 and continued at around 7% from 2000 to 2005, making it the world's second-fastest growing economy. Simultaneously, foreign investment grew three-fold and domestic savings quintupled. Manufacturing, information technology and high-tech industries form a large and fast-growing part of the national economy.

Vietnam is still a relatively poor country with GDP of US$251.8 billion (est., 2004). This translates to ~US$3000 per capita. Inflation rate was estimated at 14% per year in 2004. The spending power of the public has noticeably increased. As a result of several land reform measures, Vietnam is now the largest producer of cashew nuts with a one-third global share and second-largest rice exporter in the world. Vietnam has the highest percent of land use for permanent crops, 6.93%, of any nation in the Greater Mekong Subregion. Besides rice, key exports are coffee, tea, rubber, and fishery products. However, agriculture's share of economic output has declined, falling as a share of GDP from 42% in 1989 to 26% in 1999, as production in other sectors of the economy has risen. Urban unemployment has been rising steadily in recent years due to high numbers of migration from the countryside to the cities, while rural unemployment is already at critical levels. Among other steps taken in the process of transitioning to a market economy, Vietnam in July 2006 updated its intellectual property legislation to comply with TRIPS. Vietnam was accepted into the WTO on November 7, 2006. Vietnam's chief trading partners include Japan, Australia, ASEAN countries, the U.S. and Western European nations.
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They still consider themselves a Socialist republic...
 
forestal

forestal

I'm the Boss of Me
Probably going to turn out like his idol, Fidel Castro.

The difference here is that they have a poweful natural resource:eek:il.

I wonder how long his oil fueled reign of terror is going to last.

The worst thing we can do is interfere with their politics. That only increases his popularity.
 
MMDad

MMDad

Lem Putt
forestal said:
Probably going to turn out like his idol, Fidel Castro.

The difference here is that they have a poweful natural resource:eek:il.

I wonder how long his oil fueled reign of terror is going to last.

The worst thing we can do is interfere with their politics. That only increases his popularity.
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I'm shocked you wouldn't have embraced him! After all, he stands for all of your most important views: He is socialist, he believes in income redistribution, he hates Bush, and he hates the US. What more do you want?
 
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