Posted on 03/03/2007 8:39:09 AM PST by rellimpank
As Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez further tightens control of the South American country's economy, wealthy Venezuelans who once thought they could live with his socialist edicts are turning to their backup plan - flight to the United States, particularly Florida.
Venezuelans have long gobbled up condos and pre-construction deals in Florida as investments, but the latest buyers want homes where they can live and business properties that will help them earn a green card.
"First the people who come are the businessmen in the highest circles, then the losing politicians, then the military and then the professionals," said Miami-based immigration attorney Oscar Levin. "You're beginning to see the (Venezuelan) professionals."
(Excerpt) Read more at heraldtribune.com ...
Well done Chavez! Flush all the entrepreneurs and businessmen out of your country. Then the scientists and engineers will follow. When all is said and done, you'll be the Zimbabwe of the South American continent. Congratulations!
They'll bring their money, their skills, and the right-of-center politics. They should fit right in with the Cuban-Americans in South Florida. They were all deprived of their life, liberty, property, and their pursuit of happiness by leftist dirtbags. They have seen the light, and can help defend us from the leftist RATs in this country.
Not only does he lose them, but we gain them, and they bring their money and skills here.
Deja vu Miami early 60's.
As predictable as Cindy Sheehan is ugly.
I'm hoping this influx of foreign money is going to shore up the real estate market in Florida. Obviously the Venezuelans are not going to do much for the price of middle-income housing in Tampa, but all those condos in Miami, the big houses up and down the east coast of Florida, the horse farms in Wellington and Ocala--they could finally get bought. There's been so much spec upscale residential construction in Miami, much of it just sitting on the market lately.
bump
Good thing there's nothing to interfere with their personal growth. . . like borders for instance.
Good! Bring them here.
We'll be happy to add Venezuelas wealth to our country.
Mean while Venuzuela gets poorer as it circles the bowl
I wonder how many rich Venezuelans exist, and what percentage of them would leave.
If I were one, I know I'd be packing my bags - things are looking really nasty over there.
Amusingly enough, a few days ago I caught the tail end of a NPR story on how rich Venezuela was getting and the problems caused by the inflation. Interesting that it affects the poor more than anyone, so Chavez' policies are hitting the poor where it really hurts. And yet they support him!
Needless to say, they didn't talk about the shortages or about people moving to America. You would think it was a rich paradise with minor problems if you listened to the radio ...
D
Lots of Venezuelans are also coming to Panama and bringing their cash with them.
It has done wonders for real estate prices down there. Even Boca Raton, where my parents live, has seen a sizeable influx of wealthy Venezuelans.
Do they vote Republican like Cuban exiles?
I listened to some of the stories about what was going on in Caracas and throughout the country. These people were I suppose, the first Venezuelan wave to hit the American beach. They were saying that thousands of Venezuelans would be trekking to America, as hugo continued to tighted the screws. The hatred for chavez among these people was so thick, it could have been cut with a knife.
We need their votes in South Florida. The main voting blocks in Broward County, where Weston is located, are Democratic Jewish transplants from the NE (Broward had a Jewish Democratic County Commission majority back in 2000 when I was living there, back when they still had at-large voting), and, increasingly, black folk from the Carribbean, many of whom have taken citizenship and vote Dem.
It will be interesting to see how much money these Venezuelans will be able to bring with them. Probably they are selling their old homes at cut-rate prices just to have liquid assets. More influential in the long term will be what skills they bring to the U.S. rather than what money they bring. I imagine most of the professionals are not super-rich. They are probably having to sell most of what they own at bargain prices and they will have to start over. I imagine they will do fine. In the short term they will more likely be looking for rental property while they get established.
That's what Communism does. It's good that the intelligent, productive, hard-working Venezuelans are coming to the USA. Too bad if Chavez' actions make things difficult for his people - it's his fault.
And so this is how Communism works. It steals from the productive people and gives to the unproductive, unless the productive have a place to run to, and here they do.
Careful, the goal of Communism is to make the whole world communist so there will be no place to run to.
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