Hugo Chavez leaves Venezuela in economic muddle

BBC ^ | 5 March 2013 Last updated at 17:43 | Robert Plummer

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

One of the most damning verdicts on the late Hugo Chavez's leadership of Venezuela came from a doctor who made a name for himself by claiming to have inside knowledge of the cancer that eventually killed the president.

.

Dr Jose Rafael Marquina, a Venezuelan based in Miami, repeatedly predicted that Mr Chavez's illness would prove terminal, providing detailed accounts of what he said was the president's course of treatment.

His statements were given extensive coverage by the opposition media in Venezuela, eager to fill the vacuum left by the lack of official information about Mr Chavez's condition.

But whatever the truth of Dr Marquina's medical diagnosis, his broader criticism of the president's record hits home. As he said during an interview with the Tal Cual newspaper in December 2012: "Chavez dealt with his illness the way he dealt with the country - in an improvised fashion."

That habit of impromptu policymaking was integral to Mr Chavez's style, right from the start of his 14 years in power.

Time and again, the president would make major decisions on an ad hoc basis, often during the course of his rambling and unscripted weekly TV broadcast to the nation, known as Alo Presidente.

[Liberty Valance]

Chavez leaves Venezuela

Best news i've heard in months!

[Berlin_Freeper]

Chocolate Chip Lava Cookies

[DaxtonBrown]

You are pretty much spamming free republic without presenting anything germane. Is there a reason for this?

[Berlin_Freeper]

I haven't spammed FR. I posted three separate cookie recipes over the last 6 hours to help people mark the day.

If you don't like cookies then I could help you bake cupcakes. :)

[Lower55]

I like cupcakes, spam away!

[Jack Hammer]

Thanks to Chavez, Venezuela can join the ranks of the world’s communist economic sh*t holes - Russia, China, Vietnam, Cuba, Cambodia, North Korea...

And very soon, thanks to our very own Fearless Leader, the United States will be added to the list.

[Berlin_Freeper]

Welcome to the celebration!

In South Florida, Venezuelans react to Hugo Chávez’s death
The eatery, inside a strip plaza off Weston Road, began filling up with customers, some of them women with baby strollers, others men drinking Polar beer — a Venezuelan brand. A TV news crew conducted interviews. Later, the crowd spilled out into the street.

[Truth29]

"The country now boasts the fairest income distribution in Latin America, as measured by the Gini coefficient index. Brazil's economy has grown faster than Venezuela's In 2011, Venezuela's Gini coefficient fell to 0.39. By way of comparison, Brazil's was 0.52, in itself a historic low."

I wonder if the coefficient measures the growth of personal wealth by Chavez and his cronies? I suspect not.

[martin_fierro]

I like Tarts.

Let’s just leave it at that.

[Venturer]

You got that right Jack.