Venezuela's Spending on the Poor
So says Bernardo Alvarez, Venezuela's Ambassador to the United States, in a letter to the editors of The Post published today. He provides some numbers about Venezuelan poverty before Hugo Chavez that news organizations might want to dissect.
But is Chavez's spending on the poor the same thing as reducing poverty? You make the call.
Note: Alvarez's letter was in response to a Sept. 26 opinion piece by Jackson Diehl.
By Jefferson Morley |
October 5, 2005; 5:59 PM ET
| Category:
Americas
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Posted by: Lisa in Los Angeles | October 6, 2005 03:32 AM
Well said Lisa from Los Angeles.
Mr. Morley needs a couple of lessons too, on how not to bee so bias...lol
Posted by: Rock | October 6, 2005 04:51 PM
Tenemos que reconocer el papel imoortante dela institución lationamericana de la amnistía política. Faltando ella, no habríamos tenido líderes tales com Fidel y Hugo Chávez.
Será que un día los norteamericanos la adoptarán? Será bastante interesante ver a candidatos recién-salidos de la cárcel. Me refiero a los colegas de Bill Clinton, entre otros.
Posted by: Cnel Ignacio Luis Suárez de la Cruz | October 7, 2005 08:36 PM
I haven't yet been able to find the data supporting the notion that Chavez has "wiped out illiteracy" in Venezuela, as suggested by the Ambassador.
It seems that in 1999, when Chavez first took office, the literacy rate was 92.3%; in 2003 (the latest year for which I can find data) the literacy rate was 93.4%.
Considering that the literacy rate in Venezuela has improved every year since 1970 (the earliest year of data I could find), I'm not sure how the Chavez era represents a revolutionary achievement in this aspect.
Posted by: Richard Kane | October 12, 2005 06:18 PM
I keep seeing the word anti-American Mr. Moley when refering to Latin America's discontent. Does anti-American mean anti- American policies or just hatred of Americans period?
Posted by: XX | November 4, 2005 11:21 AM
The comments to this entry are closed.
Thanks for giving us the "other side" re Venezuela, care of the Ambassador. Naturally the Ambassador is going to paint his country in the best light. But given that the American media has nearly uniformly painted Chavez in a grossly distorted light, I'll take it.
I'd note too that according to NationMaster.com, Cuba, which helped Venezuela with their literacy program, has a higher literacy rate than the United States. If we'd drop our arrogance and look at the world differently, we could might learn that our way is not the only way, or even the best way, all the time.