What was Venezuela like before Chavez????

[devilgrrl]

Don't tell me... before it was paradise, now it's horrible? Right?

[htuttle]

1. It would depend on how rich you were

For the poor, it was pretty horrible. Now it's just not as horrible.

For the rich, for all their whining, they are still rich.

[Jcrowley]

3. Problem is

the aristocrats want it all. Chavez is comitting the same crimes as Aristide. Giving a few more bits to those with nothing. Those bits have to come from somewhere. That's a bad example so close to home.

peace

[PeaceProgProsp]

5. Under Chavez, the private sector is growing faster than

the public sector, and non-oil industries are growing faster than oil-related businesses.

And they're holding inflation down, which oil-rich scandinavian countries are having a hard time doing.

[bemildred]

2. Caracazo

The caracazo or sacudón is the name given to the wave of protests, riots and looting that occurred on 27 February 1989 in the Venezuelan capital Caracas and surrounding towns. The riots — the worst in Venezuelan history — resulted in over 3000 deaths, mostly at the hands of security forces.

The word caracazo is the name of the city plus the suffix -azo, which implies a blow and/or magnitude. It could therefore be translated as something like "the Caracas smash" or "the big one in Caracas". Sacudón is from sacudir "to shake", and therefore means something along the lines of "the day that shook the country". (See Spanish nouns: Other suffixes.)

The words are pronounced IPA: (American Spanish) or /kaɾa'kaθo/ (European) and IPA: , respectively.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caracazo

[ClassWarrior]

4. Get a copy of "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised."

Fascinating film shot during the CIA-backed coup attempt.

NGU.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Check posts #80 and #111 from DU'er "flyarm" who lived there for years

Apparently she's American, lived there with her husband who was there on business:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2183955#2185003

Very, very enlightening.

[devilgrrl]

7. Thanks!

You know, this all sounds like the stuff I read about in John Perkins 'Confessions of an Economic Hitman' - no wonder the Bush Crime Family is up in arms.