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Caribbean-Latin America
Venezuelan middle class flees Chávez rule of hate
2006-03-05
Will the last one out please turn off the lights?
Venezuela's once-thriving middle class is packing its bags and fleeing the country, afraid for the future as the socialist president, Hugo Chávez, calls on the slum-dwelling masses to rise up and seize wealth from those better off than themselves. Growing numbers of professionals, business owners and shopkeepers are fed up with the climate of hostility that the Left-wing president has encouraged in his effort to boost his populist credentials.

María Carolina García was blowing up helium balloons in her party-decorations shop in Caracas one day when two customers asked her how much they cost. "When I told them the price, which was just a few dollars, they started yelling at me that it was far too much," Mrs García recalled. "You're a thief! You're all thieves! You just came to this country to steal from the poor," the men shouted before marching out of the shop.

Mrs García, 46, a mother of two whose parents emigrated to Venezuela to escape the Spanish civil war and made a new life as jewellers, was upset. But it was nothing new. "Ever since Hugo Chávez was elected [in 1998] he has been fomenting hatred for those who have, among those who have not. 'Rich is bad.' That's his message. So the people who follow him have decided it's not just the world's superpower they hate, it's people like me too."
Posted by:Steve White

#12  
Howard Dean runnin' Venezuela??
Posted by: macofromoc   2006-03-05 20:46  

#11  That's pretty damn sad when someone thinks Colombia is more stable than Venezuela.
Posted by: Desert Blondie   2006-03-05 18:47  

#10  And now this dumbass wants to give all the angry illiterate hicks guns. This is just one guy talking here, but I think that is a mistake.
Posted by: Slens Shaitch6011   2006-03-05 18:44  

#9  They'll all be loyal Yugo voters in 30 years. 70 might be a better choice, life expectancy, medical advances and what not.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2006-03-05 17:23  

#8  a well-aimed .50 caliber bullet vs all this heartache, family and social upheaval? Ask the Venezuelans 30 yrs from now what we should've done?
Posted by: Frank G   2006-03-05 17:22  

#7  Thanks lotp. We should all be happy to see 'affirmative action' finally catching on in Venezuela.
Posted by: Besoeker   2006-03-05 13:53  

#6  He's already started. Companies that his administration deems 'inactive' or 'under employed' are being seized and forced to provide jobs that are not profitable and/or that are given to unskilled workers.
Posted by: lotp   2006-03-05 13:48  

#5  ..Wondering how long before Hugo starts 'redistributing'the middle class' assets..

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2006-03-05 13:47  

#4  My thought exactly, DMFD. Hugo and the masses aspire to a paradise like Zimbabwe's. They deserve the natural selection they're going to get.
Posted by: Darrell   2006-03-05 13:17  

#3  Socialism works. No wonder Hugo is a favorite of the antiglobo left/marxists in disguise, he's doing what they wish they could.
Posted by: anonymous5089   2006-03-05 11:32  

#2  I see that Mr. Chavez also subscribes to the Bob Mugabe school of economic development.
Posted by: DMFD   2006-03-05 10:33  

#1  'Rich is bad.' That's his message.

There's a logical trap here, if "Rich is Bad" where's the incentive to advance?
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2006-03-05 09:46  

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