Word: chavez
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...world leaders rattle a saber as flamboyantly as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez does. On Sunday, in a piece of vintage Chavez theater, he ordered thousands of troops and tanks to the border with Colombia after that country's military had ventured a mile into Ecuador on Saturday to kill Raul Reyes, a top commander of Colombia's FARC guerrillas. The left-wing Chavez called conservative Colombian President Alvaro Uribe a "criminal" and a "lapdog of the U.S. empire," warning ominously that "this could be the start of a war in South America...
...Chavez's harangues also have their effect. "Controls of these economic variables can work [to combat inflation]," says Orlando Ochoa, an economist and opposition sympathizer. "However, if you add an aggressive political speech [that threatens] private property... then things become worse, because the private sector becomes reluctant to invest and increase capacity." Indeed, business associations have already expressed concern that recent changes to the Law of Hoarding, Speculation and Boycotting could make it easier for the government to expropriate food-related businesses...
Both analysts and ordinary citizens, however, believe it unlikely that the President now has the mandate to nationalize a giant like Polar. "Chavez wouldn't have the support of a lot of people," says Maria Lozada, 56, from the stand where she sells newspapers in the rundown commercial center of Parque Central. Although she supports Chavez, she voted against his constitutional reforms and believes private enterprise is essential for Venezuela. "Because the other things he's done - like [nationalizing] the telecommunications company - haven't worked well...
Other measures the government has taken to alleviate the food crisis have had a limited effect. In January, Chavez announced the creation of PDVAL, an affiliate of the state oil company, PDVSA, that has been tasked with assisting in food production and distribution; it has set up various distribution centers - such as the one in the Caracas train station - around the country. The National Institute for the Defense of Users and Consumers, INDECU, has been regularly making enforcement rounds, and temporarily shut down more than 500 businesses that were guilty of selling food above the regulated prices during one week...
While many blame government policies for the shortages, a recent incident speaks to the flip side - a distrust of business that has been fueled by Chavez's fiery rhetoric. Early on the morning of Sunday, Feb. 24, a bomb exploded just outside the entrance to the headquarters of Fedecamaras, a leading business chamber that is critical of the government's economic policies. A 44-year-old man, suspected of planting the bomb and in possession of an honorary Metropolitan Police identification card, was killed in the blast. Fedecamaras called on the government to find those responsible, while Interior and Justice...