[NYTr] Venez: Strong Voter Turnout for Referendum
 
Date: Sun, 2 Dec 2007 12:56:01 -0600 (CST)

Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
[According to CBC, there is rampant inflation and massive food
shortages. Uh-huh. Shortages of some food items were a problem earlier
in the year, which appear to have been the result of deliberate
attempts to raise prices and sow dissatisfaction among the population.
Caviar is probable scarce and pricey, too. 

The "rampant inflation" claims have largely abated because inflation
has eased, despite large incrases in spending for social needs, which
the free marketeers predicted would wildly raise prices, etc. etc.
Bloomberg is still touting this one, along with predictions that if the
Constitution is modified, the value of Venezuela's currency will
suffer. Apparently that's what happens when you allow 16-year-olds to
vote and shorten the workday by a couple of hours so that more people
have jobs. 
 
Meanwhile, al Jazeera's gringa correspondent in Caracas is the miserable
Lucia Newman, who once distorted the reality of Cuba for CNN, and
the Times of London has trotted out Hugo Chavez's ex-wife to blast
him as a dictator in waiting.  There's nothing much out there of
substance from the mainstream press except the predictable overblown
crap. We'll have more after the polls close.  -NYTr]

CBC News - Dec 2, 2007
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/12/02/venezuela.html

Turnout strong for referendum to give Chavez more power [Oy!]

CBC News

Venezuelans were lining up Sunday to vote in a referendum on sweeping
changes to the country's constitution that would give President Hugo
Chavez greater power and the right to seek re-election indefinitely.

A victory would strengthen Chavez in his efforts to speed up his
socialist revolution, but most polls conducted recently have shown a
majority of Venezuelans rejecting the 69 proposed amendments to the
constitution.

The changes would scrap the existing two-term limit for presidents,
extend each term from six to seven years, end the autonomy of
Venezuela's central bank and allow the president to handpick provincial
and municipal leaders.

According to the president, constitutional reform is needed to complete
the country's transition to a socialist state.

Chavez was first elected in 1998 after portraying himself as a champion
of the poor who would redistribute the country's oil wealth to needy
neighbourhoods.

However, while Venezuela may be flush with petroleum dollars, shortages
in basic goods such as milk and eggs, are becoming more common.

In the capital Caracas, CBC journalist Connie Watson talked to one
shopper at a high-end supermarket who said she was finally able to buy
milk after going without for two months.

"There's no toilet paper, no cooking oil, sugar b and beef and chicken
are hard to find, too," said Rosario Ruiz, who spent more than an hour
waiting to be served. 

Producers taking loss

To combat double-digit inflation, the government controls the prices of
many of the most basic items, and producers are taking a loss to supply
the public with food.

Grocer Alberto Cabral said it's also difficult to get soap, detergent,
tomato sauce and mayonnaise. The situation has been critical for six
months, he said.

"Before, the people were happy," Cabral said. "They had a lot of money.
They ate well b but in these last few months, life is getting pretty
difficult."

Cabral said his family market has been in business for 50 years and has
never lived through so many shortages at once. 

After queuing up for food, Ruiz put her ration of one litre of liquid
milk and one can of powdered milk in her car, a vehicle that only costs
about one dollar to fill up with gas. [Note no prices are given for
either commodity. However big this one's car is, the price of gasoline
in early November was reported -- by The New York Times --to be
something like six cents a gallon in Venezuela. ]

"We have oil, but we don't have food," she said. "And you can't eat
oil."

Last week, tens of thousands of protesters flooded the streets of
Caracas to protest against the referendum. Elias Matt, a former
legislator who took part in the protest, said Chavez is holding the
vote in a bid to impose totalitarianism.

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