Re: [Marxism] Chavez/Venezuela in economic trouble?

[Aaron Aarons <aaron@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:09:38 +1100
>From: "Stuart Munckton" <stuartmunckton@xxxxxxxxx>
>
>Leaving aside the economjcs and how vulenerable Venezuela is, whcih isn;t my 
>strong point but inka kola has claimed a rough estimate of $70 a barrlel as 
>the price that would begin to hurt Venezuela...

Why should anybody care what "inka kola" has claimed -- regardless of whether 
you're referring to the Peruvian soft drink or to incakolanews.blogspot.com?

>"So, sit back and watch Chavez wreck the economy."
>
>Um... a little rich to blame Chavez for wrecking economies. if Venezuela's 
>economy hits trouble it will be because the US capitalist class wrecked their 
>economy and this has helped wreck everyone elses as well.

Any "economy" that's something separate from the creation and re-creation of 
the material basis of healthy living in a healthy environment needs ot be 
wrecked for the sake of the planet.

>Chavez has said the Venezuelan economy is not immune but relatively protected 
>with massive reserves (US$40 billion) and has taken most of reserves out of 
>the US.

That US$40 billion should be enough for Venezuela to import whatever inputs it 
can't produce or obtain by barter in order to make the country self-sufficient 
in producing most of the necessities of a decent, environmentally sustainable, 
life.

>On PDVSA, impression I get is no one really knows - it remains a bit of a 
>black box.
>
>Economy minister Ali Rodriguez said it would have a n "austerity" budget - 
>signalling out big managerial salaries as something that should go. Of course, 
>with Venezuela you have to watch for what happens, not just what is said
>
>http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/3856
>
>It could potentially be a  crunch point for a process that has so far seen the 
>poorest and the richest increase their wealth. If you have austerity, then you 
>have to chose whose belts get tightened

Hopefully, the workers and peasants will be strong enough to tighten the belts 
around the necks of the wealthy parasites, or just empty the wealthy districts 
of the cities so as to provide labor for the presently too-low production of 
food.

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