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Government price controls on basic goods have been in place, in various forms, since 2003. But the restrictions have forced Venezuela to become increasingly reliant on imports of these products as local farmers will not supply the selected food staples at government prices...
The 12,950-hectare El Charcote Ranch in central Venezuela was meant as a showcase for President Hugo Chavez's agrarian revolution, turning a country with food shortages and runaway inflation into one that could feed itself. But since troops and peasants seized the land from a British agribusiness company four years ago, beef production has dropped from 1.2 million kilograms annually to zero...
So did he think the peasants would just pick up and take over farming ?
Same thing is happening in Zimbabwae.
The big problem in Zimbabwe was that the dictator didn't have money to pay supporters so he seized other people's land and then gave the land to its supporters. Now, most of them were city folk who had no interest in farming and instead have tried to rent out the land to make cash off of it. But there are no peasants with enough money to buy seeds, irrigation water, farm equipment, or pesticides & fertilizer.
It was just kleptocracy instead of a real effort at reform. Land reform has worked well in other countries (Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile come to mind). Heck, even Britain's effort to break up the large manorial estates in the 50's and 60's went very well.
Land reform has worked well in other countries (Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile come to mind). Heck, even Britain's effort to break up the large manorial estates in the 50's and 60's went very well.
In 1932-1933, an estimated 3.1–7 million people, mainly in Ukraine, died from famine after Stalin forced the peasants into the collectives (this famine is known in Ukraine as Holodomor). Most modern historians believe that this famine was caused by the sudden disruption of production brought on by collective farming policies that were implemented by the government of the Soviet Union. Some believe that, due to unreasonably high government quotas, farmers often received far less for their labor than they did before collectivization
That bs line is just to make Americans feel better about their depression. China still has huge growth and they are beginning to consume their own goods instead of sending them here. Russia is still going strong. Brazil is self-reliant on energy. The world is doing just fine.
Oh, and Saddam Hussein was technically elected as well. The alternative to voting for him was certain death.
Venezuela might be a mess but Repsol a Spanish Company that was exploring for Gas in the Gulf of Venezuela just discovered one of the worlds largest Gas areas. They say it could contain between 7 to 8 Trillion Cubic feet of Gas.
Map:
Story: Repsol Claims Enormous Gas Find Off Venezuela (http://www.moneynews.com/markets/repsol_natural_gas/2009/09/11/259067.html - broken link)
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