Stuart Munckton
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's government has attempted to implement policies that benefit the working majority via redistributing the nation's oil wealth. Despite being the fifth largest supplier of oil in the world, when Chavez was elected around 80% of Venezuelans lived in poverty.
As a result of breaking with neoliberal orthodoxy, many gains for the poor majority have been made.
FACT: Plans to privatise key Venezuelan state-run industries, such as the state-owned oil company (which accounts for around 50% of government revenue) and the electricity company, have been stopped. The constitution adopted by popular referendum in 1999 bans the privatisation of oil and other essential services such as social security. [An English translation of the constitution can be found at FACT: 41% of the 2006 budget is dedicated to social programs. By next year social spending will have more than tripled that of 1998, when Chavez was elected.
FACT: In 2004, according to a study by market research company Datos Information Resources, the living standards of the poorest 84% of Venezuelans were increased by one third, once inflation was taken into account, due to government social programs and increases in the minimum wage.
FACT: According to Venezuela's National Institute of Statistics, the percentage of the population living in poverty is expected to drop from 47% at the end of 2004 to 35% at the end of 2005 — a drop of around 3 million people. The percentage of people living in "critical poverty", the level at which people cannot afford to cover their basic needs, dropped to 10.1% in the first half of 2005, down from 18% the previous year. This drop of 8% amounts to around 2 million people.
FACT: Venezuela's tax agency Seniat has launched a crackdown on corporate tax evasion that has involved the fining and temporary closing down of many corporations, both local and foreign, including such multinational giants as McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Shell, Microsoft and IBM. Within a year of implementing this "zero tolerance" approach, tax revenue had increased by 50% and the government announced on May Day this year that the increased revenue would fund a 23% increase in the minimum wage. Also, for the first time in almost a century, the majority of government revenue in 2006 is set to come from tax, rather than oil.
FACT: The government has used oil wealth to fund a dramatic expansion of the education system, provided completely free of charge. The percentage of GDP spent on education has more than doubled. As a result of the education programs, known as missions, school enrolments have increased by more than a million. A new university has been established to especially provide university education for the previously excluded poor majority. Not only is education free, but accommodation, transport and two meals a day are also provided.
FACT: As a result of a program known as Mission Robinson, which has mobilised 150,000 volunteers over two years to teach more than 1.3 million people to read and write, Venezuela is now officially an "illiteracy free" territory.
FACT: The government has provided free health care to the poor neighbourhoods for the first time, via the establishment of popular clinics as part of Mission Barrio Adentro. The mission has provided more than 185 million consultations and is estimated to have saved more than 25,000 lives.
FACT: A state-run supermarket chain, run through Mission Mercal, have been created that sells high-quality food staples priced at 25-50% cheaper than the private supermarket chains. Mercal is rapidly expanding and is found predominantly in the poor neighbourhoods, already serving more than 30% of the population.
FACT: Even polling company Datanalysis, associated with the political opposition to Chavez, found that 73% of the population had benefited in some way from the government's social missions, which helps explain why their February poll found support for Chavez at over 70%, well up from the nearly 60% Chavez received in an election held the previous August.
[Facts are taken from <http://www.venezuelanalysis.com>.]
From Green Left Weekly, November 9, 2005.
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