Looks like Zabersus may have had some points concerning the elections in Venezuela
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/03/AR2010100303313_pf.html
The Bolivarian Militia is a force of volunteers ranging from students to retirees formed in recent years by Chavez, who says it is a crucial component of the nation's defenses.
Opponents of the leftist president say the militia is essentially a personal army for Chavez aimed at intimidating his adversaries, maintaining control and keeping him in power. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101003/ts_nm/us_venezuela_chavez
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez vowed to "radicalize" his socialist revolution even further after legislative elections that gave the opposition one of its strongest showings during his more than 11 years in power.
He started on Sunday by announcing the expropriation of land owned by the Venezuelan agricultural company Agroislena and vowing to hasten the nationalization of land held by the British meat products company Vestey Foods Group.
Chavez's ruling Socialist Party won last weekend's vote by a slim margin, taking 5.45 million votes or 48.9 percent compared with 5.33 million votes or 47.9 percent for the newly united Democratic Unity umbrella group.
The result lifted the optimism of the opposition, which now sees a chance to unseat Chavez in 2012 presidential elections.
The election results came as Venezuela's oil-rich economy continues to shrink while most others in Latin American have been recovering from the global economic crisis of 2008 and 2009. Inflation is running at nearly 30 percent annually.
Since 1999, when Chavez took office, the government has taken over some 2.5 million hectares (6.2 million acres) of land, in line with his so-called Bolivarian Revolution in which the firebrand leftist has aggressively sought consolidate to private assets under state control.
In a decade of tumultuous rule, Chavez has also nationalized public utilities, key mining and other production industries and media outlets.
The moves Sunday from a defiant Chavez come days after his ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) failed to maintain his powerful two-thirds supermajority due to inroads made by a coalition of opposition parties.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/04/1807508/venezuela-introduces-cuba-like.html
Presented by President Hugo Chávez as an instrument to make shopping for groceries easier, the ``Good Life Card'' is making various segments of the population wary because they see it as a furtive attempt to introduce a rationing card similar to the one in Cuba.
The measure could easily become a mechanism to control the population, according to civil society groups.
``We see that in short-term this could become a rationing card probably similar to the one used in Cuba,'' Roberto León Parilli, president of the National Association of Users and Consumers, told El Nuevo Herald. ``It would use more advanced technological means [than those used in Cuba], but when they tell you where to buy and what the limits of what you can buy are, they are conditioning your purchases.''
After the landmark vote, Chavez dismissed the broad coalition as "micro" opposition parties and vowed to continue his nationalization program.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/04/1807508/venezuela-introduces-cuba-like.html
Presented by President Hugo Chávez as an instrument to make shopping for groceries easier, the ``Good Life Card'' is making various segments of the population wary because they see it as a furtive attempt to introduce a rationing card similar to the one in Cuba.
The measure could easily become a mechanism to control the population, according to civil society groups.
``We see that in short-term this could become a rationing card probably similar to the one used in Cuba,'' Roberto León Parilli, president of the National Association of Users and Consumers, told El Nuevo Herald. ``It would use more advanced technological means [than those used in Cuba], but when they tell you where to buy and what the limits of what you can buy are, they are conditioning your purchases.''
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/03/AR2010100303313_pf.html
The Bolivarian Militia is a force of volunteers ranging from students to retirees formed in recent years by Chavez, who says it is a crucial component of the nation's defenses.
Opponents of the leftist president say the militia is essentially a personal army for Chavez aimed at intimidating his adversaries, maintaining control and keeping him in power. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101003/ts_nm/us_venezuela_chavez
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez vowed to "radicalize" his socialist revolution even further after legislative elections that gave the opposition one of its strongest showings during his more than 11 years in power.
He started on Sunday by announcing the expropriation of land owned by the Venezuelan agricultural company Agroislena and vowing to hasten the nationalization of land held by the British meat products company Vestey Foods Group.
Chavez's ruling Socialist Party won last weekend's vote by a slim margin, taking 5.45 million votes or 48.9 percent compared with 5.33 million votes or 47.9 percent for the newly united Democratic Unity umbrella group.
The result lifted the optimism of the opposition, which now sees a chance to unseat Chavez in 2012 presidential elections.
The election results came as Venezuela's oil-rich economy continues to shrink while most others in Latin American have been recovering from the global economic crisis of 2008 and 2009. Inflation is running at nearly 30 percent annually.
Since 1999, when Chavez took office, the government has taken over some 2.5 million hectares (6.2 million acres) of land, in line with his so-called Bolivarian Revolution in which the firebrand leftist has aggressively sought consolidate to private assets under state control.
In a decade of tumultuous rule, Chavez has also nationalized public utilities, key mining and other production industries and media outlets.
The moves Sunday from a defiant Chavez come days after his ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) failed to maintain his powerful two-thirds supermajority due to inroads made by a coalition of opposition parties.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/04/1807508/venezuela-introduces-cuba-like.html
Presented by President Hugo Chávez as an instrument to make shopping for groceries easier, the ``Good Life Card'' is making various segments of the population wary because they see it as a furtive attempt to introduce a rationing card similar to the one in Cuba.
The measure could easily become a mechanism to control the population, according to civil society groups.
``We see that in short-term this could become a rationing card probably similar to the one used in Cuba,'' Roberto León Parilli, president of the National Association of Users and Consumers, told El Nuevo Herald. ``It would use more advanced technological means [than those used in Cuba], but when they tell you where to buy and what the limits of what you can buy are, they are conditioning your purchases.''
After the landmark vote, Chavez dismissed the broad coalition as "micro" opposition parties and vowed to continue his nationalization program.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/04/1807508/venezuela-introduces-cuba-like.html
Presented by President Hugo Chávez as an instrument to make shopping for groceries easier, the ``Good Life Card'' is making various segments of the population wary because they see it as a furtive attempt to introduce a rationing card similar to the one in Cuba.
The measure could easily become a mechanism to control the population, according to civil society groups.
``We see that in short-term this could become a rationing card probably similar to the one used in Cuba,'' Roberto León Parilli, president of the National Association of Users and Consumers, told El Nuevo Herald. ``It would use more advanced technological means [than those used in Cuba], but when they tell you where to buy and what the limits of what you can buy are, they are conditioning your purchases.''
... please make yourself at home ... 