After Hugo Chavez (best, country, people, developed)
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The problem with the "Socialism of the 21st Century" model is that it claims to be the solution to society's problem forever, but in reality its a choose the present over the future. In short, unsustainable and we are seeing the end of this. Maduro is slightly crazy, so I guess this transition will be quite bloody before its definitely over.
Chavez/Maduro were not as smart as Lula in Brazil. That's why Venezuela is imploding while Brazil is not.
In the mean time, the Castro regime is opening Cuba to more and more capitalism as they see their former source of stability (aka, all the freebies Venezuela was generously giving Cuba) collapse.
The biggest losers in all of this is the Venezuelan people. I also don't think it will be easy to undo the damage that has been done to Venezuela's production capability and overall economy. If we look at other countries that experienced socialist disasters (Jamaica, India, Angola, etc), their recovery took a long, long time. In the case of Jamaica, they have not been able to really get going with their development due to the backwardness they suffered during their socialist years. In the case of India, the country has been booming in resent years but its starting at a base that is far more backwards than it would had been had India never suffered through the socialist disaster.
China is probably the best success, because when they were fully socialist they were facing one of the greatest famines in human history. By injecting capitalism to the mix, things began to improve to what China is today, a real global player.
I think too many overlook that the best solution is a mixed economy of some sort.
Pure socialism and pure capitalism have their limits. You need both to some degree. Most developed countries including the U.S have a mixed economy. I tend to favor a mixed economy that leans towards capitalism. Norway like Venezuela and Mexico has oil but unlike those two countries Norway has better development. Norway has a mixed economy and a democratic transparent government. Both Venezuela and Mexico could learn from Norway's example.
I think too many overlook that the best solution is a mixed economy of some sort.
I agree, I think countries need to be flexible when making decisions that are in the best interests of its citizens. If we look at countries that have the highest standard of living and human developement they are often of mixed systems. Sometimes it seems that much of Latin America is still stuck in the cold war.
Its not about socialism, that's just what they call it. Its about populism which has always been powerful in Latin America. The people who have been the supporters electorally were for the most part not getting real spoils, they have been getting just enough to keep voting for "socialism". This is pretty much the definition of populism, pushing an agenda which keeps you in power by targeting a large enough audience to make it work. It continues to work because political strategy dictates these groups will change over time and as long as you find the right formula to affect enough of them you can stay in office indefinitely. This is why the opposition can't get its act together in Venezuela as well, they all have their own pieces of the electorate and the interests of each are not always aligned neatly beyond just wanting to get the guy in power out of office.
This is pretty much the definition of populism, pushing an agenda which keeps you in power by targeting a large enough audience to make it work.
I'd be curious to see how Chavez would be handling these current problems. Like Moises Naim said Chavez had a economy based solely on spending and not investing which is hurting the oil production needed to fund those social programs. Now Chavez's economics are starting to show it's limits but it's Maduro who's have to deal with things.
Unbelievable how a country that produced and exported so much now depends almost solely on oil exports.
Vehicle exports have plummeted too. In 1995 Venezuela exported $231 million worth of cars, but by 2011 the car section disappeared!
In 1995 the United States bought slightly more than half of all Venezuelan exports, but by 2011 the United States purchases was reduced to slightly more than a quarter of Venezuelan exports while Asian countries, especially China, blossomed.
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