Chronicles in Socialist Success Stories - Venezuela, what (more) could go wrong?

[maxparrish]

What fun...

Mother of all battles in scarcity-hit Venezuela: having a baby
Reuters By Alexandra Ulmer
12 hours ago

By Alexandra Ulmer

MARACAIBO, Venezuela (Reuters) - Her belly bulging, Hilda Angarita hauls herself to five different drug stores in the sweltering Venezuelan city of Maracaibo until she finally finds post-cesarean patches.

"I'm giving birth tomorrow and here I am in the street. I want to go home," says the teacher, 37, fanning herself as she rests on a bench the day before her scheduled delivery.

Over the previous nine months, Angarita's life has been consumed with searching for vitamins, calcium, diapers and medicines amid widespread shortages in recession-hit Venezuela.

Currency controls and flailing local production have fueled worsening scarcities that are now a blight of daily life for many Venezuelans - especially those expecting a child.

...To get by, pregnant women wake up at the crack of dawn to join long store lines, try to stock up on diapers before their baby is born, visit a dozen shops for a single product, tap social media to barter goods, and spend small fortunes on the black market where smugglers jack up prices at the sight of their bellies. Or they go without.

"Everything is an obstacle," says Angarita, who now regrets voting for late socialist president Hugo Chavez.

...Maternity and pediatric units "are overcrowded, there aren't enough incubators, water is lacking and power cuts are normal, equipment is damaged, there aren't surgical supplies and blood banks don't work," said a joint report by local activist groups Codevida and Provea in May.

...Deteriorating hospitals are at times forced to turn away patients due to lack of everything from antibiotics to doctors, who have joined an exodus of professionals leaving Venezuela amid a bruising economic crisis and epidemic of violent crime.

Drawing a full picture of the effect of scarcity on pregnancy is tricky due to a lack of up-to-date official data.

During his 14 years in power, Chavez tapped an oil bonanza to build thousands of free health centers in poor neighborhoods, largely staffed by Cuban doctors...Supporters also praise him for implementing an across-the-board six-month maternity leave.

...Venezuela's government did not respond to requests for comment and the National Institute for Women said it was not currently authorized to give interviews. ...

President Nicolas Maduro, Chavez's handpicked successor, blames the shortages on speculators who he says hoard medicines and other goods to stoke anger against his government.

...By 8 a.m., over 100 pregnant women line the corridors of a state-run maternity center in Maracaibo. Portraits of Chavez and 19th century liberation hero Simon Bolivar hang above them.

Staff will eventually see them in rooms that can reach around 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) because of insufficient spare parts to repair air conditioning units.

Doctors say the temperatures are a breeding ground for bacteria. Basics like sheets and toilet paper are often unavailable because of theft....

"The crisis gets worse by the day because every day the shortages grow," said an obstetrician in between examining patients in her small office, asking to remain anonymous.

"I bring gloves, catheters, and gauzes in from abroad. During the day, patients look for supplies wherever they can but at night it's dangerous," added the doctor, who says she too is thinking about leaving Venezuela.

About 7 in 10 drugs are currently unavailable, estimates the Pharmaceutical Federation of Venezuela.

Venezuela's Childcare and Pediatrics Society says chickenpox vaccines are scarce, those for polio and hepatitis are intermittently available, and babies are at risk of being born underweight due to lack of vitamins and supplements.

While many in Venezuela appear resigned to the shortages, small pockets of society are protesting.

"It's because we're scared and because we've stayed at home silently that we've ended up in this situation," said Patricia Fernandez, 27, a mother of twins who joined a march last month to demand solutions for shortages of diapers, baby formula and milk.

She and her taxi driver husband, who installs security cameras to supplement earnings, spend a quarter of their monthly income on diapers and milk alone.

"How long will this go on for? I can't get used to them limiting what I can get for my children," said Fernandez.

...Shoppers complain that re-sellers grab the first spots in lines and threaten people who argue with them. Given the high rate of single-parent homes, some mothers have little choice but queue with their kids.

"This is unmanageable," said Meiby Gonzalez, 21, cradling her shirtless 11-month old child after nearly four hours in line.

...(Additional reporting by Isaac Urrutia in Maracaibo; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Kieran Murray)

http://news.yahoo.com/mother-battles-scarcity-hit-venezuela-having-baby-132844947.html

 

[arkirk]

What fun...

Mother of all battles in scarcity-hit Venezuela: having a baby
Reuters By Alexandra Ulmer
12 hours ago

By Alexandra Ulmer

MARACAIBO, Venezuela (Reuters) - Her belly bulging, Hilda Angarita hauls herself to five different drug stores in the sweltering Venezuelan city of Maracaibo until she finally finds post-cesarean patches.

"I'm giving birth tomorrow and here I am in the street. I want to go home," says the teacher, 37, fanning herself as she rests on a bench the day before her scheduled delivery.

Over the previous nine months, Angarita's life has been consumed with searching for vitamins, calcium, diapers and medicines amid widespread shortages in recession-hit Venezuela.

Currency controls and flailing local production have fueled worsening scarcities that are now a blight of daily life for many Venezuelans - especially those expecting a child.

...To get by, pregnant women wake up at the crack of dawn to join long store lines, try to stock up on diapers before their baby is born, visit a dozen shops for a single product, tap social media to barter goods, and spend small fortunes on the black market where smugglers jack up prices at the sight of their bellies. Or they go without.

"Everything is an obstacle," says Angarita, who now regrets voting for late socialist president Hugo Chavez.

...Maternity and pediatric units "are overcrowded, there aren't enough incubators, water is lacking and power cuts are normal, equipment is damaged, there aren't surgical supplies and blood banks don't work," said a joint report by local activist groups Codevida and Provea in May.

...Deteriorating hospitals are at times forced to turn away patients due to lack of everything from antibiotics to doctors, who have joined an exodus of professionals leaving Venezuela amid a bruising economic crisis and epidemic of violent crime.

Drawing a full picture of the effect of scarcity on pregnancy is tricky due to a lack of up-to-date official data.

During his 14 years in power, Chavez tapped an oil bonanza to build thousands of free health centers in poor neighborhoods, largely staffed by Cuban doctors...Supporters also praise him for implementing an across-the-board six-month maternity leave.

...Venezuela's government did not respond to requests for comment and the National Institute for Women said it was not currently authorized to give interviews. ...

President Nicolas Maduro, Chavez's handpicked successor, blames the shortages on speculators who he says hoard medicines and other goods to stoke anger against his government.

...By 8 a.m., over 100 pregnant women line the corridors of a state-run maternity center in Maracaibo. Portraits of Chavez and 19th century liberation hero Simon Bolivar hang above them.

Staff will eventually see them in rooms that can reach around 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) because of insufficient spare parts to repair air conditioning units.

Doctors say the temperatures are a breeding ground for bacteria. Basics like sheets and toilet paper are often unavailable because of theft....

"The crisis gets worse by the day because every day the shortages grow," said an obstetrician in between examining patients in her small office, asking to remain anonymous.

"I bring gloves, catheters, and gauzes in from abroad. During the day, patients look for supplies wherever they can but at night it's dangerous," added the doctor, who says she too is thinking about leaving Venezuela.

About 7 in 10 drugs are currently unavailable, estimates the Pharmaceutical Federation of Venezuela.

Venezuela's Childcare and Pediatrics Society says chickenpox vaccines are scarce, those for polio and hepatitis are intermittently available, and babies are at risk of being born underweight due to lack of vitamins and supplements.

While many in Venezuela appear resigned to the shortages, small pockets of society are protesting.

"It's because we're scared and because we've stayed at home silently that we've ended up in this situation," said Patricia Fernandez, 27, a mother of twins who joined a march last month to demand solutions for shortages of diapers, baby formula and milk.

She and her taxi driver husband, who installs security cameras to supplement earnings, spend a quarter of their monthly income on diapers and milk alone.

"How long will this go on for? I can't get used to them limiting what I can get for my children," said Fernandez.

...Shoppers complain that re-sellers grab the first spots in lines and threaten people who argue with them. Given the high rate of single-parent homes, some mothers have little choice but queue with their kids.

"This is unmanageable," said Meiby Gonzalez, 21, cradling her shirtless 11-month old child after nearly four hours in line.

...(Additional reporting by Isaac Urrutia in Maracaibo; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Kieran Murray)

http://news.yahoo.com/mother-battles-scarcity-hit-venezuela-having-baby-132844947.html

What more could go wrong, Max?...try turning everything in Venezuela over to YOU. Venezuela is a government under attack that doesn't manage to cover all the bases all the time. You really have no sympathy for any of the Venezuelans and seem to delight in chronicling their difficulties in the most prejudicing language. Where did you pick that habit up... lunches with Senator McCain? I agree they have problems and most of them stem from the entire country relying on oil profits to pay its bills. The vast bulk of non socialist countries in the world are likewise struggling with failure of their capitalist system to provide. The stories you tell about Venezuela can be told about any country in the world...even the good old U.S.A.

 

[dismal]

Venezuela is a government under attack that doesn't manage to cover all the bases all the time. You really have no sympathy for any of the Venezuelans and seem to delight in chronicling their difficulties in the most prejudicing language.

The people of Venezuela are under attack from their own idiotic government's idiotic economic policies.

It's because we care about their well being we point this out. I even harbor slim hopes that someone will learn something from all this and the highly predictable negative consequences of said policies will be avoided next time.

 

[arkirk]

Venezuela is a government under attack that doesn't manage to cover all the bases all the time. You really have no sympathy for any of the Venezuelans and seem to delight in chronicling their difficulties in the most prejudicing language.

The people of Venezuela are under attack from their own idiotic government's idiotic economic policies.

It's because we care about their well being we point this out. I even harbor slim hopes that someone will learn something from all this and the highly predictable negative consequences of said policies will be avoided next time.

You and max have a lot in common. Mainly that you call people you neither know nor understand idiots. Venezuela has always worked with an imposed deficit in terms of foreign interests trying to control its natural resources. You really have no way of either knowing or caring about the interests of millions of Venezuelans you have no idea what has transpired in their lives. You seem to be just another in the chirping chorus of America Uber Alles, and frankly, it is getting quite dated.

 

[dismal]

The people of Venezuela are under attack from their own idiotic government's idiotic economic policies.

It's because we care about their well being we point this out. I even harbor slim hopes that someone will learn something from all this and the highly predictable negative consequences of said policies will be avoided next time.

You and max have a lot in common. Mainly that you call people you neither know nor understand idiots. Venezuela has always worked with an imposed deficit in terms of foreign interests trying to control its natural resources. You really have no way of either knowing or caring about the interests of millions of Venezuelans you have no idea what has transpired in their lives. You seem to be just another in the chirping chorus of America Uber Alles, and frankly, it is getting quite dated.

I call people who do idiotic things idiots. I don't have to know them personally to know their actions will cause precisely the misery they are causing.

Newsflash: printing money causes inflation.

Newsflash: declaring artificially low prices for goods causes shortages of goods and black markets

Newsflash: nationalizing foreign investment causes a decline in foreign investment

Newsflash: economically punishing people that produce results in less production.

There is no need to drag in the evil machinations of Joe Biden to explain their problems. Basic economics explains the consequences of their policies perfectly.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

What fun...



http://news.yahoo.com/mother-battles-scarcity-hit-venezuela-having-baby-132844947.html

What more could go wrong, Max?...try turning everything in Venezuela over to YOU. Venezuela is a government under attack that doesn't manage to cover all the bases all the time. You really have no sympathy for any of the Venezuelans and seem to delight in chronicling their difficulties in the most prejudicing language. Where did you pick that habit up... lunches with Senator McCain? I agree they have problems and most of them stem from the entire country relying on oil profits to pay its bills. The vast bulk of non socialist countries in the world are likewise struggling with failure of their capitalist system to provide. The stories you tell about Venezuela can be told about any country in the world...even the good old U.S.A.

Venezuela is only under attack by it's own government.

Nobody else would have any reason to attack them, they're self-destructing on their own.

- - - Updated - - -

You and max have a lot in common. Mainly that you call people you neither know nor understand idiots. Venezuela has always worked with an imposed deficit in terms of foreign interests trying to control its natural resources. You really have no way of either knowing or caring about the interests of millions of Venezuelans you have no idea what has transpired in their lives. You seem to be just another in the chirping chorus of America Uber Alles, and frankly, it is getting quite dated.

I call people who do idiotic things idiots. I don't have to know them personally to know their actions will cause precisely the misery they are causing.

Newsflash: printing money causes inflation.

Newsflash: declaring artificially low prices for goods causes shortages of goods and black markets

Newsflash: nationalizing foreign investment causes a decline in foreign investment

Newsflash: economically punishing people that produce results in less production.

There is no need to drag in the evil machinations of Joe Biden to explain their problems. Basic economics explains the consequences of their policies perfectly.

And all of these things are understood by anyone who actually passed Economics 101.

That doesn't include the current Venezuelan government.

 

[Derec]

Venezuelan government preparing for elections:
Venezuela bans another opposition politician from holding office

 

[untermensche]

Do we also have pity for the millions and millions in South America who are suffering and have suffered for many decades because of capitalism?

 

[fromderinside]

I call people who do idiotic things idiots. I don't have to know them personally to know their actions will cause precisely the misery they are causing.

You're not describing idiots. Check your hero 'shrub'. Not an idiot, just lazy and uncaring about consequences, when looking for grand statements.

Newsflash: printing money causes inflation.

Newsflash US had been printing money for more than a decade now. Any inflation?

next.

Oh goody another one being served by you right now.

Newsflash: declaring artificially low prices for goods causes shortages of goods and black markets

Artificial is all perspective. The price of oil could remain where it is right now and the world would get by just fine. Is the price being paid last year artificially high?

Newsflash: nationalizing foreign investment causes a decline in foreign investment

Really? So nationalizing investment an foreign investor no longer deems worthy of support, but, is essential to a country, actually discourages real foreign investment? Seems to me that only self interest is a casualty here.

Newsflash: economically punishing people that produce results in less production.

Oh, I see. If its a choice between no production or enforced production whatever is produced is 'less'?

There is no need to drag in the evil machinations of Joe Biden to explain their problems. Basic economics explains the consequences of their policies perfectly.

Well there you go. You have platitudes to explain how a failed economy treated with anything remains a failed economy except you blame any thing that is done rather than the fact the economy, nation, was already a failed nation. Why the heck do you think Chavez and his successors actually came to power?

As for super-inflation I think power behind the money printer has something to do with whether that printing has inflationary consequences.

Go back to the 19th century for your comparisons every time doncha. Ever time ignoring that we are much the better off with our current economies overall than humanity and its economies was anytime before now. Weak, weak, weak. even your heroes, micro-economists, are finding problems with their platitudes in micro-applications.

 

[fromderinside]

Do we also have pity for the millions and millions in South America who are suffering and have suffered for many decades because of capitalism?

Bone to pick with you too. Its not capitalism that causes the problem its self centered humans saying they are using capitalism, by so doing gain leverage, then financially rape the population just like did their predecessors the Spanish.

 

[Jayjay]

Newsflash: printing money causes inflation.

Newsflash US had been printing money for more than a decade now. Any inflation?

Yes.

http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/current-inflation-rates/

Newsflash: declaring artificially low prices for goods causes shortages of goods and black markets

Artificial is all perspective. The price of oil could remain where it is right now and the world would get by just fine. Is the price being paid last year artificially high?

The price of oil isn't lowered by an artificial declaration, it's lower because Saudi Arabia decided to produce more of it. I'm sure Saudis would prefer if they could produce more and sell it at last year's prices but that's not how supply and demand work.

Newsflash: nationalizing foreign investment causes a decline in foreign investment

Really? So nationalizing investment an foreign investor no longer deems worthy of support, but, is essential to a country, actually discourages real foreign investment? Seems to me that only self interest is a casualty here.

What do you mean by "no longer deems worthy of support"? Investments are usually done with hopes of some returns in the future. Nationalizing said investments is very likely going to discourage future investors from pouring their money to the country... a better way is to ensure with taxation and regulation that as big part as possible of the returns benefit the people rather than just the investor.

Newsflash: economically punishing people that produce results in less production.

Oh, I see. If its a choice between no production or enforced production whatever is produced is 'less'?

On an aggregate, yes: some producers go out of business, some continue to produce under the new restrictions, but the total production is still going to be less.

There is no need to drag in the evil machinations of Joe Biden to explain their problems. Basic economics explains the consequences of their policies perfectly.

Well there you go. You have platitudes to explain how a failed economy treated with anything remains a failed economy except you blame any thing that is done rather than the fact the economy, nation, was already a failed nation. Why the heck do you think Chavez and his successors actually came to power?

A failed state is a failed state. If Chavez and his goons couldn't fix it, maybe it's time to try something else?

 

[fromderinside]

A failed state is a failed state. If Chavez and his goons couldn't fix it, maybe it's time to try something else?

I generally agree with your corrections and other comments.

Not a state ownership kinda Gui am I. Should have said hyper inflation which is what doomsayers have been saying for most of that time. Inflation when money is printed to increase money supply really depends on the state of the sate and the relative power of the state relative to other states. Money printing doesn't make things happen. It increases probabilities that, if things begin to get too hot or cold,things will go worse than otherwise which is a bit of a duh.

As for the rest its all financial affairs in Venezuela are mostly those of a long term failed state. democracy hasn't worked, despotism hasn't worked, corporatism hasn't worked, doing nothing hasn't worked. Exploitation is the way of life there. Until people aren't hereditary victims and some individual possibilities are established Venezuela will remain a failed state. The only people who have done well there are owners and powerful which are usually brought in and lost control of by the owners.

Its not about economics or politics. Venezuela about national mind set, expectation, and entitlement.

Apparently the US is drifting toward those problems. In our case it may be state maturity, the state is outgrowing its founding principles and something is required to bring us up to social snuff on common support. Believe me it's not Trump and its not more wild west capitalism.

 

[untermensche]

Do we also have pity for the millions and millions in South America who are suffering and have suffered for many decades because of capitalism?

Bone to pick with you too. Its not capitalism that causes the problem its self centered humans saying they are using capitalism, by so doing gain leverage, then financially rape the population just like did their predecessors the Spanish.

When you find so-called capitalism you find a few capitalist masters and many many victims.

It is a system of forced subservience that allows the few to efficiently exploit the many.

And in terms of places like Venezuela, like in the US, it was a system of racial subservience.

 

[untermensche]

A failed state is a failed state. If Chavez and his goons couldn't fix it, maybe it's time to try something else?

If only we had said the same thing the many many times capitalism has failed and will continue to fail over and over again.

In the case of Venezuela what you have had for decades is a small part of the population, a very wealthy minority, that has been actively working to disrupt the system and destroy it.

Not many systems can withstand this kind of internal disruption, not to mention the huge external disruptions Venezuela has faced from the grand master of the capitalist system, the US, that attacks any nation that tries to free itself from US economic domination.

 

[Jayjay]

A failed state is a failed state. If Chavez and his goons couldn't fix it, maybe it's time to try something else?

If only we had said the same thing the many many times capitalism has failed and will continue to fail over and over again.

In the case of Venezuela what you have had for decades is a small part of the population, a very wealthy minority, that has been actively working to disrupt the system and destroy it.

Not many systems can withstand this kind of internal disruption, not to mention the huge external disruptions Venezuela has faced from the grand master of the capitalist system, the US, that attacks any nation that tries to free itself from US economic domination.

Blaming all your own failures on others and imaginary attacks is a staple of failed states' governments everywhere.

 

[untermensche]

If only we had said the same thing the many many times capitalism has failed and will continue to fail over and over again.

In the case of Venezuela what you have had for decades is a small part of the population, a very wealthy minority, that has been actively working to disrupt the system and destroy it.

Not many systems can withstand this kind of internal disruption, not to mention the huge external disruptions Venezuela has faced from the grand master of the capitalist system, the US, that attacks any nation that tries to free itself from US economic domination.

Blaming all your own failures on others and imaginary attacks is a staple of failed states' governments everywhere.

Capitalism is the system that has shown the great propensity for failure.

It continually fails, but it remains because of force, not because it is a good system or because anybody except the rich ever wanted it.

 

[Derec]

Capitalism is the system that has shown the great propensity for failure.

It's like Swiss cheese. It might have holes, but the cheese itself is delicious and nutritious. Socialism, as Venezuelan people have found out, is all holes. You have a country with huge oil reserves and their economy is in shambles because of gross mismanagement by people who think basic economic principles do not apply as long as you have revolution.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Do we also have pity for the millions and millions in South America who are suffering and have suffered for many decades because of capitalism?

[Citation needed]

- - - Updated - - -

Do we also have pity for the millions and millions in South America who are suffering and have suffered for many decades because of capitalism?

Bone to pick with you too. Its not capitalism that causes the problem its self centered humans saying they are using capitalism, by so doing gain leverage, then financially rape the population just like did their predecessors the Spanish.

And most of the blame for capitalism comes from blaming it for exposing the underlying problems. In the face of shortages it distributes those shortages unevenly and thus produces jealousy.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

When you find so-called capitalism you find a few capitalist masters and many many victims.

It is a system of forced subservience that allows the few to efficiently exploit the many.

And in terms of places like Venezuela, like in the US, it was a system of racial subservience.

And when you put socialism in such a society you find the same thing, just the open capitalists being replaced with the more hidden gains of those with sufficient government connections.

The Chinese equivalent of our legislature is made up of billionaires--and they got that way through corruption, not earning it.

- - - Updated - - -

Capitalism is the system that has shown the great propensity for failure.

It's like Swiss cheese. It might have holes, but the cheese itself is delicious and nutritious. Socialism, as Venezuelan people have found out, is all holes. You have a country with huge oil reserves and their economy is in shambles because of gross mismanagement by people who think basic economic principles do not apply as long as you have revolution.

Good illustration.

 

[untermensche]

Capitalism is the system that has shown the great propensity for failure.

It's like Swiss cheese. It might have holes, but the cheese itself is delicious and nutritious. Socialism, as Venezuelan people have found out, is all holes. You have a country with huge oil reserves and their economy is in shambles because of gross mismanagement by people who think basic economic principles do not apply as long as you have revolution.

This is a joke, right?

Capitalism in the raw is a highly destructive system, for most. For a tiny few it is a good system.

What has made capitalism tolerable in some places, especially Europe, are all the anti-capitalist government reforms and regulations tacked on top of it. Things like an 8 hour day and paid overtime and sick time. Things the capitalists fought against and still fight against.

It is a bunch of anti-capitalism that is the nutritious cheese.

Capitalism in itself is misery for most while a few dominate and live well.

And that was the capitalism in Venezuela before Chavez. A few white people lived well and millions of the indigenous lived in severe poverty.