Venezuela’s Marxist left refuses to learn from past mistakes

If history is any guide, the kind of land reform promised by Hugo Chavez will make Venezuela even more dependent on imported food. Chavez's brand of land reform is a proven failure, and in some cases, has led to disaster, says the Washington Times.

Land redistribution has been ongoing since 2005, and the results are starting to emerge:

By some estimates, Venezuelan farmers produced 8 per cent less food in 2006 than in 2005; sugar cane production in particular is down, in one north western state by 40 per cent.

Landowners are trying to sell their property, knowing that if the land is taken over by one of the cooperatives financed by the Chavez government, they will not be compensated.

Also for fear of losing their property, large landowners are no longer investing any more than they need to in their farms.

Even if they wanted to, farmers who own more than 100 acres are categorically denied loans by Venezuela's state banks, according to one farmer interviewed by the Wall Street Journal.

Last year, the Chavez government began "renegotiating" its contracts with foreign oil companies in order to hand a greater share of ownership in lucrative oil fields over to the state-controlled oil company, promising to kick out any firm that refused. This year Chavez nationalised electrical and telecommunications companies and promised to do the same to banks.

Chavez may think that oil revenue will buoy his social agenda, as it does his diplomatic one. Despite high oil prices, however, Chavez has done little to reduce poverty in Venezuela. Land redistribution will be yet another failed policy, and a reminder that Latin American's retrograde Marxist left stubbornly refuses to learn from past mistakes, says the Times.

Source: Editorial, Chavez's destructive agenda, Washington Times, May 21, 2007.

For text: http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20070520-094056-6295r.htm

For more on International Issues: http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_Category=26

FMF Policy Bulletin/ 29 May 2007