VHeadline commentarist Arthur Shaw writes: Some two-bit pro-imperialist outfit called the Global Property Guide has just put out a piece of bourgeois propaganda which it headlined: "Five Reasons Investors Should Avoid Venezuela." In our reply, we shall look at merits (or lack thereof) of the first reason the bourgeois propaganda gives for investors avoiding Venezuela.
Here's the above-mentioned first reason, quoted in full.
1. Hugo Chavez could become president for life
"In his quest to stay in power, Chavez has managed to amend the constitution several times, first to allow re-election and lengthen each term from five to six years.""Political instability has been the norm under Chavez. In 2002, Chavez was ousted in a coup, but was quickly reinstated after a counter-coup. In 2004, he survived a recall referendum. There were several mass protests to denounce his increasingly authoritarian rule, and several counter protests by his avid supporters."
"After narrowly losing a 2007 referendum to scrap term limits, he gave dole-outs to loyal Chavistas and the public, seeking to buy popularity. In December 2008, Chavez got his wish -- a constitutional revision, allowing him to run for President, indefinitely."
"The National Assembly has been transformed into a runner-stamp legislature that allows Chavez to rule by decree. He has blocked the renewal of a media license to an outlet critical of his policies. There has been continuous harassment of critics and of the political opposition."
"It is becoming more and more likely that Chavez will become president for life, especially with his win-at-all-costs strategy… and he is still relatively young at 54."
In the first paragraph, it is a bourgeois lie that "Chavez ... managed to amend the constitution several times" because he only managed once which was in February 2009 to "allow re-election." The act of "lengthening each term from five to six years" was not a constitutional amendment, but the work of a Constituent Assembly which drafted an entirely new Constitution in 1999. So, this piece of bourgeois propaganda starts off with a big, fat bourgeois lie.
In the second paragraph, it is yet another bourgeois lie that " In 2002, Chavez was ousted in a coup, but was quickly reinstated after a counter-coup." A "coup" is an overthrow of a government by a small group within domestic state establishment -- usually the military. The imperialist regime in Washington, not a "small group within the [Venezuelan] state establishment," instigated, led and financed the two-day overthrow of Venezuelan democracy in April 2002. So, the April 2002 2-day overthrow of Venezuelan democracy was not essentially an overthrow by domestic forces, but by an foul act of US imperialist aggression against the democratic government of Venezuela. It is an even bigger and more slimy lie of the bourgeoisie that Chavez "was quickly reinstated after a counter-coup." Again, a "coup" is an overthrow of a government by a small group within state establishment. In April 2002, millions of Venezuelan workers and tens of thousands of patriotic soldiers marched and demanded the restoration of the democratic government of Venezuelan, not some "small group within state establishment," as Global Property Guide, the lying outfit of bourgeois propaganda suggests.
In the third paragraph, Global Property Guide continues to exercise its degenerate passion of lying when it says Chavez "gave dole-outs to loyal Chavistas and the public." To "dole" means to give out in charity. The bulk of the national income of Venezuela comes from oil which is publicly owned by the Venezuelan people, not owned by the slimy US imperialists thieves or by servile and treacherous Venezuelan bourgeois quislings. It is not charity for the public to take, use, and enjoy its own property. To take and use one's property and the fruits of one's property is an incident and right of the ownership, not a dole or entitlement to charity.
In the fourth paragraph, the bourgeois lies continue to multiply when Global Property Guide says "The National Assembly has been transformed into a runner [rubber]-stamp legislature that allows Chavez to rule by decree." The National Assembly "allows" Chavez to issue executive orders or "decrees" on specified subject matters within a limited and specified period of time. An executive order outside of the specified subject matter or outside of the term of issuance granted by the National Assembly is void. If this arrangement is authoritarian, then what does bourgeois scum call the arrangement in the USA or UK where there are no time limits or subject matter limits on the issuance of executive orders by the head of government. I tell you what the bourgeois scum says. It says nothing. The bourgeois scum covers up the authoritarian exercise of state power in the USA and UK.
In the fifth paragraph, we find "It is becoming more and more likely that Chavez will become president for life, especially with his win-at-all-costs strategy… and he is still relatively young at 54."
The thing that worries the Venezuelan bourgeoisie and US imperialists is not the possibility that "Chavez will become president for life," but the possibility ... that is more and more likely ... that proletarian democracy and socialism will outlast Chavez"
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