Economy

There are some faults with the Venezuelan economy, such as high inflation and occasional shortages of food in some stores, but most people are still earning much more (after adjusting for inflation) and eating much more than they did ten or twenty years ago.

ExxonMobil isn't suing PDVSA because it needs the money. The world's largest publicly traded corporation recorded profits of $40.6-billion (U.S.) in 2007, up three per cent from 2006's record of $39.6-billion. The truth is, ExxonMobil's ultimatum has more to do with politics than economics.

Recently, a wind of change has been blowing across Latin America. People in Latin America have started resisting neo-liberalism and US domination. Perhaps the most important initiative for that has been the creation of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA).

Many analysts concur that the increase in government spending from 19% to 30% of the GDP during President Hugo Chávez's presidential term made the consumption capacity of Venezuelans grow faster than the supply of goods and services.

“We lack everything” Frances Buitrago, a small shopkeeper in the city of Merida, commented to Green Left Weekly. “There isn’t any milk, rice, mayonnaise, oil, wheat, or butter.”

The non-profit NGO Latinobarómetro released its annual poll surveying the development of democracies, economies, and societies in Latin America, applying attitudinal, opinion, and behavioral indicators. Its results are very eloquent regarding the Latin American people’s ideology and opinion, especially when referring to Venezuela.

The opposition was spearheaded by protest marches of hundreds of thousands of students, along with their professors. But the left-populist president, for all his flaws, has broadly supported universities and scientific research in Venezuela. The opportunities currently opening up for Venezuelan science should not be squandered.

In Latin America today new crises are being repelled and old shocks are wearing off–a combination of trends that is making the continent not only more resilient in the face of change but also a model for a future far more resistant to the shock doctrine.

The rich have become richer, and nearly everyone else has become poorer in the USA during the Bush years. Is it possible to go in the other direction? Venezuela, a country where income disparities have been immense for many decades, has been trying to redistribute income more fairly. Is the Chavez government succeeding?

The political landscape is rapidly evolving in Latin America, with traditional docility to U.S. economic and political demands giving way. As Latin American citizens elect more left-leaning leaders, countries are increasingly turning away from multinational energy companies and shifting their energy policies inward, nationally and regionally.