Land Wars in Venezuela

Video Report (13:59 minutes)

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/17/wo...=1&oref=slogin

Quote:

The squatters arrive before dawn with machetes and rifles, surround the well-ordered rows of sugar cane and threaten to kill anyone who interferes. Then they light a match to the crops and declare the land their own.

For centuries, much of Venezuela’s rich farmland has been in the hands of a small elite. After coming to power in 1998, and especially after his re-election in December, President Hugo Chávez vowed to end that inequality, and has been keeping his promise in a process that is both brutal and legal.

Mr. Chávez is carrying out what may become the largest forced land redistribution in Venezuela’s history, building utopian farming villages for squatters, lavishing money on new cooperatives and sending army commando units to supervise seized estates in six states.

The violence has gone both ways in the struggle, with more than 160 peasants killed by hired gunmen in Venezuela, including several here in northwestern Yaracuy State, an epicenter of the land reform project, in recent years. Eight landowners have also been killed here.

“The oligarchy is always on the attack and trying to say you are no good,” Mr. Chávez said to squatters in a televised visit here. “They think they’re the owners of the world.”

As squatters forcefully seize lands and drive down production of sugar under government direction the end result has been a severe shortage in sugar products.

As Chavez's reforms continue is it worth the cost in human life and market efficiency for communal ownership and poverty empowerment?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Chávez is both handsome and intelligent.

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Why else would they put his face up everywhere?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

As a serious answer to your question. Yes it is worth it.

Some choice quotes from later in the article

Quote:

Carlos Machado Allison, an agricultural economist at the Institute for Higher Administrative Studies in Caracas, said demand for food had climbed more than 30 percent in the last two years with the oil boom, while Venezuela’s capacity to produce food grew only 5 percent.

This economist is trying to make it sound like it's a bad thing that not only is the economy growing and thus demand for food but that food production is increasing too. So what if Chávez is running against the free market? He's putting people before profits and the benefits are showing. He is doing a good job. Venuzuela is a democracy and clearly the people support him.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Well, a good solution to that would be to import more food and help finance the difference with the profits from sugar cane. It's this kind of short-sighted socially-driven planning that's going to cause serious setbacks for Venezuela's agriculture.

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Sugar cane is just leading to diabetes the world over. Chávez is saving lives.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Isn't it high fructose corn syrup that's supposed to be causing all of the obesity and diabetes? It's only fancy stuff that has real sugar nowadays.

FELIPE NO

Soda is loaded with high fructose corn syrup, and litters every other aspect of our diet.

It's wrong to say that this Hugo is saving lives when there's preventable casualities in Venezuela. Yet I'm split, because Venezuela is probably the last place on earth I'm worried about - they're headed in the right direction. A move towards a democracy (or greater one) has never been without turmoil.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

There's nothing democratic about squatters seizing property and murdering the owners or getting murdered.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

There is if the people voted for it. Duh, Brady.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

CURSES!

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Apparently John McCain has an answer to this crisis! Google Ads is telling me to visit a campaign website of his.

I guess we'll wait to see what the repercussions are. If there aren't any, maybe I can just let this slide and be mad at everything else Chavez stands for.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

there are a few factors that most people dont know about the land.
its true that in venezuela a small elite possess most of the land, but that is not the worst thing, the worst thing is that most of this land ISNT cultivated its just there and the people in charge of the land dont work it.
so, the thing is that venezuela import most of the food from the surrounding countries, i know that my country (ecuador) export millions of eggs(yeah, EGGS) to venezuela because they dont raise chickens for eggs.
i know this kind of things because ive been there 3 times in the last 4 years, and i ask around to people in different circunstance and places.
oh and BTW, i case that someone want to know, chavez is still ver popular in venezuela in contrary to what we hear from the media

I was speaking idiomatically.

So popular they smacked down his referendums and he's facing serious political scrutiny. Maybe he's got a lot of lifetime supporters in the Barrios but the political climate is neither as supportive or dangerous as his supporters and detractors make it out to be.

This doesn't explain why people should be getting murdered because Chavez can't do anything other than half-assed.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

you should really be more specific with your statements brady, the recent referendum doesn't indicate his popularity because it was on a constitutional reform that was barely considered even legal to propose, one thing is that the population turns down one of his projects(I bet you don't even know the margin) and turning him down as a president. You don't even know what you are talking about when you say Barrio, this country is at around 90% poberty so what isn't a barrio here, sure you are correct about the political climate right now but what are your sources, american journalism? people are not getting murdered because of Chavez alone a president isn't the only one doing things for a government and you probably know that, besides I don't know how you can differentiate the amount of murders going on here if we haven't let any stats out in years, but hey you probably do know more than I do, it's not like I live there right?

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by juanzen

you should really be more specific with your statements brady, the recent referendum doesn't indicate his popularity because it was on a constitutional reform that was barely considered even legal to propose, one thing is that the population turns down one of his projects(I bet you don't even know the margin) and turning him down as a president. You don't even know what you are talking about when you say Barrio, this country is at around 90% poberty so what isn't a barrio here, sure you are correct about the political climate right now but what are your sources, american journalism? people are not getting murdered because of Chavez alone a president isn't the only one doing things for a government and you probably know that, besides I don't know how you can differentiate the amount of murders going on here if we haven't let any stats out in years, but hey you probably do know more than I do, it's not like I live there right?

Half-assing land reform and recognizing squatter's rights is stirring the pot, yes. If that policy gets landowners and squatters killed, it's the government's responsibility for those deaths.

As for whether you know more than I do, I could probably find another Venezuelan on the internet who would be claiming the opposite. I'd believe him a lot less, but your appeal to authority doesn't fly very far considering the divergent opinions of Venezuelans on the internet.

As for the deaths themselves, the number is cited in the story being directly related to the "land wars," but the source is American journalism, so I suppose I shouldn't put faith in the New York Times.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?