I know Hugo Chavez is a controversial topic even on sites like Daily Kos, but I see the two sides going at it as unequal. One side repeats only unsubstantiated talking points, innuendo, and rumors. The other side has been studying the situation for a long time, and has a deep and comprehensive understanding of the Venezuelan situation. This article, and the link within it to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, should give people a basic understanding of the Venezuelan economy in the last 10 years, and give a proper context to the lies being spread about Venezuela and it's popular president, Hugo Chavez.
The article starts off with a summary, and a link to CEPR's website.
The major media in the United States and Venezuela are overflowing with misinformation about Venezuela and its social and economic indicators, so it was relief to see a reliable appraisal of Venezuela’s economic growth appear recently: "The Venezuelan Economy in the Chávez Years," by Mark Weisbrot and Luis Sandoval at CEPR, the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC, February 2008. ( For those of you who are not familiar with CEPR, you should visit their website at http://www.cepr.org/... since they are primarily engaged in producing reliable information, analysis, and prognostication concerning the U.S. economy – they predicted the dangers of the stock market bubble in the late 1990s, and the housing bubble of the 2000s, when most economists were ignoring the problems because they were giddy with the joys of short-term profit-taking; likewise, they are one of the best, non-hysterical guides to understanding the current state of the U.S. Social Security system.)
In their report, which reviews solid statistics gathered through 2007, they note that Venezuela’s economy has been one of the fastest growing in Latin America and the world over the past five years: "since the first quarter of 2003, Venezuela's real (after adjusting for inflation) GDP has grown by 87.3 percent."
"...employment in the formal sector has increased to 6.17 million (2007 first half), from 4.40 million in the first half of 1998 and 4.53 million in the first half of 2003. As a percentage of the labor force, formal employment has increased significantly since 1998, from 45.4 to 50.6 percent (2007)."
The figures above indicate, according to my handy calculator, that total employment, including both the formal and informal sectors, was 12.19 million in the first half of 2007, versus 9.69 million in 1998. This is an increase of 26% in nine years, a remarkable achievement for any country.
These numbers are taken from the 2008 version of the CEPR Report The Venezuelan Economy in the Chávez Years,. The 2007 version can be found here.
It is en vogue even with Democratic party elites to bash Hugo Chavez without any real understanding of him or his situation. The current trend is to lie about how the Venezuelan economy is on the verge of collapse, or struggling along. I've probably heard about 50 times about the recent milk shortages, but no one brings up the fact that Venezuelans are eating more now than ever. The poverty rate under Chavez has been cut in half in the last five years. And that unemployment rate you see above is a record low unemployment rate, according to Bloomberg News.
But the economy is just one pillar in the media's attack on Hugo. The "dictator" comments -- equally as untrue -- are the subject for another diary and another day.