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Money for nothing, Chavez for free
Mr Chavez may have to do better than continue to address huge rallies with anti-Washington rhetoric. He should instead work hard to put the country?s economy on an even keel.
Hugo Chavez being re-elected as Venezuela’s Leftist President was never in doubt. Even the scale of Mr Chavez’s victory over challenger Manuel Rosales was probably just a matter of detail considering that most Venezuelans evidently believe his socialist revolution and oil-funded social programmes are their best bet for a better future. The fortuitous rise of oil prices in the past six years has given Mr Chavez a powerful tool to keep the Venezuelan masses happy. He has used the country’s huge oil revenues to fund a range of programmes — from free clinics and adult literacy to subsidised State-run shops called ‘mercals’ and cash benefits for single mothers. The fresh mandate gives Mr Chavez a free hand to deliver on many of his electoral promises, like expanding free health care services and cracking down on corruption in the government.
However, this could be easier said than done. Venezuelan society is deeply divided and is plagued by crime, corruption, unemployment and an acute lack of housing. This suggests that the lot of the poor may have actually only changed superficially since Mr Chavez first swept into office in 1998, riding on the bitterness of an electorate disillusioned by a corrupt political elite. Although his supporters claim they have benefited from these programmes, the fact remains that Mr Chavez’s government has not been able to significantly raise living standards. Could it then be that, as his critics argue, the support he enjoys from Venezuela’s poor is paradoxical? Many economists have pointed out that his ‘Bolivarian Revolution’ may not actually be a sustainable model and it serves only to keep the poor that way.
So if he is serious about his poll promises, Mr Chavez may have to do better than continue to address huge rallies with anti-Washington rhetoric. He should instead work hard to put the country’s economy on an even keel, tempering his populist policies with those that will have a long-term impact.
