Why follow the rules, when you can make your own?

I came across this article today. The short version is that Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez wants to introduce legislation to do away with term limits, so that he has more time to implement a socialist economy. In other words, he's not planning on going anywhere. For those of you not familiar with the situation in Venezuela, here's a brief rundown.

In 1998, Chavez was elected president. Running on a platform promising to reduce both poverty and corruption, he received 56% of the vote. He won reelection in 2006, allegedly receiving 63% of all ballots cast. I use the word "allegedly" because the Chavez government has quite the reputation for corruption, questionable elections included. Since first taking office, Chavez has been a vocal critic of George Bush and America in general, while cozying up to his role model Fidel Castro. In addition, he has made active strides towards a largely state-controlled economy, proposing government control of everything from telecom companies to Venezuela's massive oil refineries. Chavez has also implemented several laws restricting free speech and the free press.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Chavez is a modern-day Pied Piper. After promising massive social reforms, and an end to poverty, he has taken away rights and done nothing to improve the economy. Poverty actually increased during his first four years in office, from 43% to 54%. Further, what is referred to as "extreme" poverty (people living on less than $1/day) jumped from 17% to 25%. Meanwhile, violent crime (homicide in particular) has increased year over year. In 2003, there were 11,900 murders, equivalent to 46.5 per 100,000 people. That's 36.2 per day. And the reason more recent statistics aren't available? Chavez's government ordered the police to stop releasing them. There are routine reports of citizens being tortured by the police and the National Guard. Venezuela is also notorious for its do-nothing attitude regarding the problem of human trafficking.

As each day passes, Chavez works to cement his power and deny the rights of the people he pledged to empower. For any skeptics out there (I'm looking at you, Sean Penn), this is all well-documented. Check out any of the following for the real situation:


Human Rights Watch

Amnesty International

Venezuela Crisis

And the next time you're at the pump, refuse to help subsidize this-CITGO is the U.S. subsidiary of Venezuela's state-run oil company.