Associated Press, public relations organ for Hugo Chávez,
totally misses the boath with this story by Ian James: Venezuela pumps money into programs for the poor

The truth is, Venezuela’s not “pumping money into” effective “programs for the poor”. I repeat the chart I posted on Friday, May 6, a week ago today:

As Revista Veja shows, things are a lot worse since Chávez took power:

Before Chávez Now People below poverty level 43% 54% Unemployement 11% 16% Income per capita $4,650 $4,190 Number of industries 11,000 5,000 Foreign investment $2 billion $1 billion Inflation 11% 17% Public debt $27.5 billion $44.8 billion Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas de Venezuela, and The Economist Intelligence Unit.

I had mentioned in a prior post that “poverty in Venezuela rose from 43 percent to 54 percent of the population during Chávez’s first four years in office. And extreme poverty — the percentage of the population that lives on less than $1 a day — grew from 17 percent to 25 percent during the same period, the figures show.” In case you wonder where those numbers came from, they came straight from Venezuela itself.

These numbers are even more dismal when you consider that the price of oil has increased by 600% since Chávez came to power.

Buried among all the Ian James’s AP article bullsh*t, there’s this nugget of truth:

Venezuela now draws some two-thirds or more of its oil export earnings from the United States.

It also bears repeating that Citgo, which has eight refineries and some 13,000 service stations across the U.S., is owned by Petróleos de Venezuela SA. You and I are supporting Chávez’s ruinous policies.

The James AP article says,

Chavez, for his part, insists graft will not be tolerated

In that, they are right. Graft will not be simply tolerated: it’s being actively encouraged, and emphatically, carried out.

I’m writing TriValleyCentral.com with a request that they publish the information above. Will keep you posted on their reply.