Chavez's "Success"

I was reading yesterday's Oppenheimer Report and it touched on many of the subjects we discussed in class a couple of days ago regarding Venezuela. In it, Andres Oppenheimer discusses how Venezuela's own National Institute of Statistics has reported extrememly high percentages of poverty in the country. Such figures indicate how "poverty in Venezuela rose from 43 percent to 54 percent of the population during Chávez's first four years in office. And extreme poverty -- the percentage of the population that lives on less than $1 a day -- grew from 17 percent to 25 percent during the same period". Also mentioned in the column is the fact that in the recent past Venezuela has experienced a huge economic rise. However, the fruits of such "successes" are obviously ending up in the wrong, and very few, hands of a priviledged class. Much of these proceeds have been used to acquire preposterous amounts of arms as well as to buy votes for the recent referendum, among other corrupt issues. It's just sad, really...