I don't think so. Contrary to popular opinion, Venezuela has never actually pursued major land reform or actually socialized most of their industries. Even at the height of socialism in Venezuela, 70% of capital was still in private hands. E.g. one of the major problems in Venezuela was that there is food, it's just being hoarded or thrown our for profit/spite for the federal government by the three major food conglomerates.
The problem is that Venezuela has actually legitimate and well-facilitated popular elections, probably one of the only countries in the region where that is true (something which is incredibly irritating to watch libs make fun of) and a very popular socialist front, but that socialist front is not fully committed to expropriation, but rather marshalling the resources that the government does have towards poverty alleviation and internal security.
However, notice that this is not capital development and it's not a Marxist, ML, Maoist, MLM, Stalinist, or even Trotskyist plan. This plan stems from the roots of Bolivarian nationalism, and maintaining that independence and nationalism is the key component of the movement. The major key is simply to not become running dogs of the U.S. regardless of economic ideology. Poverty alleviation is key because that is the key to the votes to stay in control of thst project, but ultimately socialism is more of a means to an end for the project, and they are more than willing to experiment with different forms of capital accumulation.
My personal belief is that they are distancing themselves from communism as a brand and ideology because they have rooted out the U.S. backed dissent, so they are more comfortable in their power position, particularly within the military. That means they can start to experiment more broadly with opening up the economy without worrying about a coup coming from the U.S. backed business class, as they already wasted their juice on Guaido.
That being said, it's disappointing, to say the least, but ultimately I hope it leads to some sort of economic success and shared prosperity for the country. It has gone through several hardships in the last decade and could use a serious win.
Np, There are also corruption issues as well, but much like with Brazil, it is difficult to tell how much is just 'politics as usual' and how much is actually 'really bad political harm causing' corruption.
However, keep in mind that much of what is considered 'corruption' in Venezuela is called 'lobbying' in the U.S. so again, difficult to tell, and the fact that it is even prosecuted at all, let alone on the books as a crime should generally be seen as a good thing.
It's a big ol' complex nation, and I highly recommend reading telesur, even if they do sometimes overemphasize the socialist nature of the project imo.
there is food, it’s just being hoarded or thrown our for profit/spite for the federal government by the three major food conglomerates.
they have imported most of their food since the 50s, buying it with oil money
it's actually the better choice from an economic pov given venezuela's soil issues, but it obviously fucks up your sovereignty (which is why capitalist food production is trash and they should've done that land reform)
I don't think so. Contrary to popular opinion, Venezuela has never actually pursued major land reform or actually socialized most of their industries. Even at the height of socialism in Venezuela, 70% of capital was still in private hands. E.g. one of the major problems in Venezuela was that there is food, it's just being hoarded or thrown our for profit/spite for the federal government by the three major food conglomerates.
The problem is that Venezuela has actually legitimate and well-facilitated popular elections, probably one of the only countries in the region where that is true (something which is incredibly irritating to watch libs make fun of) and a very popular socialist front, but that socialist front is not fully committed to expropriation, but rather marshalling the resources that the government does have towards poverty alleviation and internal security.
However, notice that this is not capital development and it's not a Marxist, ML, Maoist, MLM, Stalinist, or even Trotskyist plan. This plan stems from the roots of Bolivarian nationalism, and maintaining that independence and nationalism is the key component of the movement. The major key is simply to not become running dogs of the U.S. regardless of economic ideology. Poverty alleviation is key because that is the key to the votes to stay in control of thst project, but ultimately socialism is more of a means to an end for the project, and they are more than willing to experiment with different forms of capital accumulation.
My personal belief is that they are distancing themselves from communism as a brand and ideology because they have rooted out the U.S. backed dissent, so they are more comfortable in their power position, particularly within the military. That means they can start to experiment more broadly with opening up the economy without worrying about a coup coming from the U.S. backed business class, as they already wasted their juice on Guaido.
That being said, it's disappointing, to say the least, but ultimately I hope it leads to some sort of economic success and shared prosperity for the country. It has gone through several hardships in the last decade and could use a serious win.
Thanks for the great explanation of the situation!
Np, There are also corruption issues as well, but much like with Brazil, it is difficult to tell how much is just 'politics as usual' and how much is actually 'really bad political harm causing' corruption.
However, keep in mind that much of what is considered 'corruption' in Venezuela is called 'lobbying' in the U.S. so again, difficult to tell, and the fact that it is even prosecuted at all, let alone on the books as a crime should generally be seen as a good thing.
It's a big ol' complex nation, and I highly recommend reading telesur, even if they do sometimes overemphasize the socialist nature of the project imo.
they have imported most of their food since the 50s, buying it with oil money
it's actually the better choice from an economic pov given venezuela's soil issues, but it obviously fucks up your sovereignty (which is why capitalist food production is trash and they should've done that land reform)