http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007703140336Detroit News
Manny Lopez
Venezuela's socialism doesn't work
Shortages, crime afflict citizens as Chávez lets corruption run wild
CARACAS, Venezuela - At first glance, the street markets here give little indication that this country's economy is falling apart.
Vendors holler their prices for plantains, fresh fruit and avocados the size of cantaloupes at consumers. Prices are rarely fixed and permits to sell aren't needed. Good thing, too, because as Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez wrings democracy and the free market out of the country, more people will need to sell stuff on the streets, if they have anything left to sell.
Crime is out of control, and Venezuelans legitimately fear the worst is yet to come.
Poverty, crime, corruption and anti-American sentiment aren't unique to Chávez's regime. But there are fundamental failures in the market and society in Venezuela, a country that traditionally has been a stable, democratic nation.
Chávez calls it 21st-century socialism. A more honest interpreter would call it communism.
Street-level view of socialism
Venezuela is a different place than when I visited nine years ago.
This is evident the moment I land in Caracas. The airport, a once-bustling hub of international flights, is a ghost town. Nameplate airlines from the United States and Europe are scarce.
Apparently tourism and 21st-century socialism don't mix.
No, Chávez is interested only in personal power, which is rooted in giving the poor two grains of rice instead of one and telling them a shipment of chickens is coming. Only there are no longer any chickens.
Or at least none that most Venezuelans can justify paying a high price for in the few stores and markets where they're sold. Price controls have all but eliminated poultry from the market. The same goes for beef and most other meats.
At Exito, a Wal-Mart type store in Barcelona (population 350,000), pig feet and snout were readily available, and a few packs of rotting ground beef were for sale. That was it. Entire shelves of pasta and other staples also sat empty.
Propaganda over progress
Chávez compensates for this with propaganda. The "democratically elected" dictator has re-appropriated money for everything from student school supplies to roads and used it to paint his picture on every clear surface. "Patriotism, socialism or death" banners hang across streets in Caracas, and anti-American murals adorn walls everywhere.
In the state of Anzoategui (one of 23 county-like regions in Venezuela), public workers wear red smocks (the color of Chávez's so-called revolution) that bear the local governor's name and phrases about progress and community.
Chávistas allegedly are everywhere, but really they are only in the poorest neighborhoods. "You are entering Chávez territory, 100 percent," say spray-painted signs (warnings?) on the walls of some enclaves.
Taxi drivers and others who have to pass by these neighborhoods keep red hats in their windows or glove boxes to don when necessary. That doesn't protect them from being stopped and robbed, a regular occurrence especially in early mornings or late at night.
Chávez is leading this charge. He has created a culture that teaches that citizens can take what they want from anyone who is better off than them -- in the name of social justice.
At the same time, government services suffer. Water in Barcelona was available daily for a few hours in the morning and maybe at night. Similarly, the electricity turned on and off without warning. The only certainty was that both utilities would fail daily. This is inexcusable given the oil wealth in this country.
This isn't merely the grumbling of a pampered American tourist. These were the complaints and observations from the people who live and breathe 21st-century socialism.
It's not the Venezuela I remember and one that an increasing number of Venezuelans would already like to forget.
Manny Lopez is a Detroit News editorial writer whose online column is published Sunday.
