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Hey Hugo, here's a new one--nationalize the cement industry. (pg. 2)
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| Shakka |
Umm...George?
| quote: | Venezuela's President
Makes New Power Grab
By JOSÉ DE CÓRDOBA and DARCY CROWE
August 6, 2008
CARACAS, Venezuela -- In an ambitious power grab, President Hugo Chávez has enacted a slew of presidential decrees which formalize the creation of a popular militia and further consolidate state control over key areas of the economy such as agriculture and tourism.
Mr. Chávez, one of Washington's main antagonists in Latin America, published the decrees on Friday, just at the close of a special 18-month period that allowed him to bypass Congress in making laws. But only the titles, and not the texts, of the decrees were released. On Tuesday, the government made the full texts widely available.
[Chavez]
Associated Press
Chávez speaks at a news conference at the Meiendorf Castle residence outside Moscow on July 22, 2008.
The new laws show that Mr. Chávez is back on the offensive after suffering a humiliating defeat in December in a referendum that, among other things, would have allowed him the possibility of staying in power for life. In the months after the defeat, Mr. Chávez, who was first elected president in 1998, seemed to slow down his drive for expanded powers. But a number of the new decrees were part of the referendum that was rejected by voters -- sparking accusations that Mr. Chávez is evading the will of the people.
"We are in the presence of a dictatorial government which has given a coup d'état to the constitution," said Luis Miquilena, a former interior minister and political mentor to Mr. Chávez who has since turned against him. "Here we have no constitution, no law and the president does exactly what he wants."
In the past few days, Mr. Chávez said that if anyone didn't approve of the laws, they could file a challenge with the Supreme Court. But critics of the former army officer turned president said that would be futile because six of the seven justices are sympathetic to the president.
Government officials weren't available for comment on Tuesday. Mario Isea, a Chávez supporter who heads the Congress' economic development committee, said that the "there was no violation of the Constitution" in the new laws, but acknowledged that some of them were analogous to the December referendum. "Of course there are going to be similarities," he said. "It's the same person who is legislating."
Among the biggest changes -- and one which was turned down in December -- was the creation of another branch of the military, a "National Bolivarian Militia," which analysts say could challenge the position and role of the traditional armed forces.
"Their object is to intimidate the armed forces and the people," Mr. Miquilena said. "Those militia are at his personal command."
Mr. Chávez also changed the name of the armed forces, which are supposed to be apolitical, from the National Armed Forces. They are now to be called the National Bolivarian Armed Forces, invoking the title Mr. Chávez has chosen for his self-proclaimed socialist revolution.
The move is likely to add to growing unease over Mr. Chávez by some of Venezuela's armed forces. One reason why Mr. Chávez lost the December referendum was outspoken opposition to the changes by his former defense minister Raúl Baduel, who accused the president of becoming an autocrat. In May, an active duty general, Ángel Vivas, asked Venezuelan courts to rescind an order by Mr. Chávez making the armed forces use the Cuban style salute: "Fatherland, Socialism or Death. To Victory."
One law vastly tightens the state's control over the food industry, an area that has been a political headache for Mr. Chávez because price controls by his government have led to shortages and eroded his popularity. The new law gives Mr. Chávez power to nationalize any businesses in the food industry without the National Assembly's approval and dictate "any necessary measures" to avoid "improper price increases."
Under the new legal regime, food retailers or distributors caught violating government-imposed price controls or hoarding products will be punished with up to six years in prison.
Some analysts say the new agriculture law is aimed at Empresas Polar SA, a food and beer manufacturer and Venezuela's largest private company. The move comes days after Mr. Chávez declared he would nationalize the Banco de Venezuela, the country's third-largest bank, a unit of Spain's Banco Santander. Tuesday, Mr. Chávez said a deal was "near" over how much the government would pay for the bank. Santander has said only that it is in talks with the government.
Another new law gives legal standing to socialist production units like cooperatives, also an idea rejected by voters last December. The central bank, for instance, will issue a special currency to help facilitate trade between different socialist production units, one of the laws states.
"This is the government's latest attempt to create a communal economic model that works, which is a key item in Chávez's socialist agenda," said Orlando Ochoa, a Venezuela economist. So far these projects have been a failure, with cooperatives gobbling state financing and usually operating at a loss.
One of the few pleasant surprises for the private sector was the banking law, which was mostly unchanged and many thought would push banks to spend more on social projects and dedicate a larger portion of their loans at preferential interest rates to economic sectors the government deems strategic.
The moves seem aimed in part at upcoming regional elections in November, when opposition leaders hope to wrest control of several important states and cities across the country. Since the December referendum, Mr. Chávez's popularity has declined because of his inability to stem inflation, reverse shortages of basic foods and curb violent crime.
One decree gives the president control over a new state fund that will receive "excess resources" from the growing list of state companies boosted by a nationalization drive that has included banks, telephone companies, oil ventures and public power utilities. Mr. Chávez will decide where to spend the money, which could allow him to financially choke regional governments controlled by the opposition parties after local elections slated for November.
"Everything is related to this upcoming election, and it's hard to imagine he doesn't see this as important in his efforts to keep power," said Peter Hakim, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a think tank in Washington D.C. |
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| LatinLover |
| Hugo "Wannabe Fidel Castro" Chavez is an idiot. With his Petrodollars Venezuela day by day is more corrupt. Its funny how chavez talks about the poor, the poor are more poor, the rich more rich (those corrupt close to him) that keep ripping Venezuelan Petrodollars from the country, like its some type of business partnership that all these thugs benefit from. |
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| Fir3start3r |
/obvious
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| Krypton |
| Hugo at it again. This guy is a straight up Marxist Socialist. I can understand maybe a moderate socialism, but this guy takes the cake.. |
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| pkcRAISTLIN |
| quote: | Originally posted by Krypton
Hugo at it again. This guy is a straight up Marxist Socialist. I can understand maybe a moderate socialism, but this guy takes the cake.. |
oh bollocks. the more frequently you misuse marxist terminology, the nastier my supcom raping of you will be! :p
this is the very essence of state capitalism. socialism/communism involves the control of the private sector by the people NOT the government. |
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| Capitalizt |
| quote: | Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
this is the very essence of state capitalism. socialism/communism involves the control of the private sector by the people NOT the government. |
In the dictionary definition sure. A bunch of lefties hold hands, sing kumbaya, and spontaneously run every company on their own. In reality, any time "the people" have owned or controlled something in a socialist state, it is the central government that directed things. Chavez is a typical marxist and he is showing us yet again what marxism looks like in the real world...not in theory. |
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| Krypton |
| quote: | Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
oh bollocks. the more frequently you misuse marxist terminology, the nastier my supcom raping of you will be! :p
this is the very essence of state capitalism. socialism/communism involves the control of the private sector by the people NOT the government. |
In no communist country has the "people" ever controlled the private sector. The government is the people.
BY the way, I should have my comp by the end of this week..:D It's been 5 week since I played, so I'll be rusty..but check out my last replays of Canis River.. |
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| Capitalizt |
| What kinda comp did u get krypt? |
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| Krypton |
| quote: | Originally posted by Capitalizt
What kinda comp did u get krypt? |
Right now, I'm on a rented Hewlitt Packard piece of shyt. The one I built is called The Terminator, because it will be used to terminate PKC in supcom:D. 256MB XFX video card, 2.13ghz duo core, 1gb ram. For $600, it's money very very very well spent. I can play practically every game out there. Try buying the same quality at the store for $600, you ain't gonna find it.
This is what is looks like..
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| pkcRAISTLIN |
| you need another stick of ram champ. |
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| Capitalizt |
man that box looks beautiful...I want one now! ;) But yeah you definitely need more ram krypt. Supcom needs 2GB to run smoothly. I have a new 1GB stick of DDR2-800 I'll send you for $22 shipped if you want it.
Also, what is your video card, the 256mb 8600gt? I know a little about computers..maybe I can help you pimp it out even further. I'll throw in an extra cooling fan you can screw onto the back top vent...giving you a super strong exhaust. It should keep it very cool inside, then you can start overclocking the video card and processor a good amount :wtf: |
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| Krypton |
I guess RAM is my next new addition.
Where did you get the RAM cards from Cap, I want to see the specs.
This is what I got.. WINTEC AMPO 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
Oh snap...It looks like I have 2GB of RAM!..LOL..no wonder my computer works so well..:stongue:
You can overclock a videocard? How does one decide how much cooling one needs to overclock? |
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