Venezuela: Why capitalism, not socialism, is to blame for corruption

[Judi Lynn]

Venezuela: Why capitalism, not socialism, is to blame for corruption

Saturday, June 18, 2016
By Steve Ellner

“Oil didn't wreck Venezuela's economy, socialism did.” That's what Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry, of the Washington-based conservative think tank Ethics and Public Policy Center, wrote earlier this year in his reflection on Venezuela's deepening economic crisis.

Gobry, a prolific writer for Forbes and the Wall Street Journal, criticised Venezuelan analysts who scapegoat oil, even though he recognised that declining oil prices have aggravated the nation's difficulties.
“The culprit is clear and obvious,” Golbry contends. “The problem is Venezuela's authoritarian socialism.”

The deteriorating quality of life in Venezuela feeds into Gobry's uncompromising statements, as well as those of the right-wing Venezuelan opposition.

The pressing problems facing Venezuela, ranging from triple-digit inflation to hours-long lines to purchase basic goods and visible cases of corruption — have provided the opposition with ammunition to discredit the left's political and economic project.

More:'https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/61966

[Marksman_91]

1. Yep, and the Chavista leadership sure love to indulge in it

One need only look at the lifestyles and living spaces and vehicles of the Chavez, Cabello, Maduro, Rodriguez families and so on, and you'd notice right away they made themselves multimillionaires these past 18 years. They sure as hell didn't become that with their government salary.