Well, friends, it seems I can’t stop raising concerns about the craziness of the president chosen by over 7 million of my fellow citizens. While I was dozing off today, I caught snippets of President Chávez’s speech during the swearing-in ceremony of his new 27 ministers – let’s not forget he started with just 12 in 1998. In any case, he was trying to flesh out the tough concept known as “21st-century socialism.” Up to this point, his followers have struggled to explain what it truly means, so the president himself had to clarify it, which he defined as:
1. Discarding the autonomy of the central bank.
2. Nationalizing CANTV (the telecommunications company) and the electricity industry.
3. Changing business codes/laws;
4. Revoking the broadcasting license of Venezuela’s largest TV network (RCTV).
5. Seeking special powers from Congress to approve new “revolutionary” laws – only Chávez knows what “revolutionary” means…
6. The State must have a majority stake in joint ventures for heavy oil enhancement in the Orinoco basin.
The six points, a summary from Goldman Sachs, indicate the type of ‘socialism’ Chávez has in mind. However, point number three needs more explanation. The new Minister of Finance, Rodrigo Cabezas, announced that from now on, private companies’ profits will be capped to increase health and education budgets. In short, the Venezuelan government will presumably regulate profit margins – and obviously take a larger tax cut – so that companies operating in Venezuela can boost contributions to finance government projects. Instead of ensuring a stable investment climate, the new inventors of socialism will unilaterally void contracts with private corporations and impose new terms of participation in existing agreements, which are supposedly perfectly legal, as suggested in point six. It goes without saying that CANTV’s shares – partly owned by Verizon – plummeted on the NYSE. “Everything that was privatized must be nationalized,” said President Chávez, who included private electric companies in the nationalization campaign since their inception.
Everything was ‘socialism’ in President Chávez’s speech. For instance, he referred to the Secretary-General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza,as “pendejo,” a term of endearment used by neo-socialists meaning “idiot.” Finally, he appropriately used language to describe a man who seems convinced that everything is just fine and dandy in this socialist country.
President Chávez also committed to sending literature on socialism – written by figures like Marx and Stalin – to church leaders so they can learn what his ‘21st-century socialism’ is all about.
Venezuelans should feel grateful that President Chávez took the time to clarify the objectives of his project. In fact, these goals are novel, especially the construction of a hegemonic system that will nullify competition, dissent, rights, and inalienable freedoms.