- 02 Oct 2007 10:00
#1342443
Venezuela: Revolution brings massive social gains
Stuart Munckton
Green Left Weekly
“The Venezuelan economy in the Chavez yearsâ€, a study released in July by the Centre for Economic and Policy Research, reveals massive social gains for the poor and working people in Venezuela as a result of the pro-people polices promoted by the government of socialist President Hugo Chavez. The study, by Mark Weisbrot and Luis Sandoval, also provides a detailed look at the state of the Venezuelan economy, which has experienced significant economic growth. The authors argue that, contrary to suggestions widely made in the corporate media (which the authors refer to as “conventional wisdomâ€), this growth is unlikely to end any time soon.
A key component of the Bolivarian revolution — as the process of change led by the Chavez government is known — is the redistribution of wealth to tackle the problems of the poor via the implementation of “social missionsâ€, government-funded social programs in a growing range of areas, including health care, education, food provision, employment, land reform, culture and the environment.
The Chavez government inherited a country devastated by neoliberalism, with a significant increase in poverty during the two decades prior to Chavez’s election. The report shows that social spending by the government from 1998 (when Chavez was first elected) to 2006 has increased by 170% per person in real (inflation adjusted) terms. However, this figure excludes social spending directly carried out by the state-owned oil company, PDVSA, some US$13.3 billion in 2006. When this spending is factored in, the increase is 314% per person since 1998. In 1998, social spending was 34.7% of total public expenditure; by 2006 it was 44%.
The report points out that “the most pronounced difference has been in the area of health careâ€, with an increase of primary care physicians from 1628 in 1998 to 19,571 today. Since 2004, as part of Mission Miracle — a joint program with Cuba that provides free eye operations — just under 400,000 people have had their vision restored. In 1999, there were 335 HIV patients with antiretroviral treatment provided by the government, compared to 18,538 in 2006.
The authors report that the government “has also provided widespread access to subsidized foodâ€. By 2006, there were 15,726 stores offering mainly food items at up to 40% below market prices. Combined with a large number of kitchens providing free food to the very poor, in 2005 67% of the population benefited. This doesn’t include those that benefited from a free school meals program (1.8 million in 2006, up from 252,000 in 1998).
Access to education has also dramatically increased, including more than 1 million people participating in free adult literacy classes, leading to Venezuela eradicating illiteracy by UN standards.
The report also shows significant drops in official levels of poverty, and points out that these figures do not include the benefits associated with provision of free health care and education or subsidised food. Since 2003, when the economy faced a crisis as a result of sabotage by the rich elite as part of their attempt to overthrow Chavez, the percentage of households in poverty has dropped from 55% to 30.6%, and those in extreme poverty from 25% to 9.1%.
These social gains are combined with ongoing attempts to involve the poor and working people in directly participating in the affairs of government and exercising power over decisions that directly affect them through new institutions of popular power, such as the communal councils. This attempt to create a “participatory democracy†is closely linked to the social gains, because the missions, such as Mission Robinson (literacy) and Mission Barrio Adentro (health care), are organised outside the existing state institutions (which are often corrupt and bureaucratic) and involve direct community participation.
Rest of the article...
Stuart Munckton
Green Left Weekly
“The Venezuelan economy in the Chavez yearsâ€, a study released in July by the Centre for Economic and Policy Research, reveals massive social gains for the poor and working people in Venezuela as a result of the pro-people polices promoted by the government of socialist President Hugo Chavez. The study, by Mark Weisbrot and Luis Sandoval, also provides a detailed look at the state of the Venezuelan economy, which has experienced significant economic growth. The authors argue that, contrary to suggestions widely made in the corporate media (which the authors refer to as “conventional wisdomâ€), this growth is unlikely to end any time soon.
A key component of the Bolivarian revolution — as the process of change led by the Chavez government is known — is the redistribution of wealth to tackle the problems of the poor via the implementation of “social missionsâ€, government-funded social programs in a growing range of areas, including health care, education, food provision, employment, land reform, culture and the environment.
The Chavez government inherited a country devastated by neoliberalism, with a significant increase in poverty during the two decades prior to Chavez’s election. The report shows that social spending by the government from 1998 (when Chavez was first elected) to 2006 has increased by 170% per person in real (inflation adjusted) terms. However, this figure excludes social spending directly carried out by the state-owned oil company, PDVSA, some US$13.3 billion in 2006. When this spending is factored in, the increase is 314% per person since 1998. In 1998, social spending was 34.7% of total public expenditure; by 2006 it was 44%.
The report points out that “the most pronounced difference has been in the area of health careâ€, with an increase of primary care physicians from 1628 in 1998 to 19,571 today. Since 2004, as part of Mission Miracle — a joint program with Cuba that provides free eye operations — just under 400,000 people have had their vision restored. In 1999, there were 335 HIV patients with antiretroviral treatment provided by the government, compared to 18,538 in 2006.
The authors report that the government “has also provided widespread access to subsidized foodâ€. By 2006, there were 15,726 stores offering mainly food items at up to 40% below market prices. Combined with a large number of kitchens providing free food to the very poor, in 2005 67% of the population benefited. This doesn’t include those that benefited from a free school meals program (1.8 million in 2006, up from 252,000 in 1998).
Access to education has also dramatically increased, including more than 1 million people participating in free adult literacy classes, leading to Venezuela eradicating illiteracy by UN standards.
The report also shows significant drops in official levels of poverty, and points out that these figures do not include the benefits associated with provision of free health care and education or subsidised food. Since 2003, when the economy faced a crisis as a result of sabotage by the rich elite as part of their attempt to overthrow Chavez, the percentage of households in poverty has dropped from 55% to 30.6%, and those in extreme poverty from 25% to 9.1%.
These social gains are combined with ongoing attempts to involve the poor and working people in directly participating in the affairs of government and exercising power over decisions that directly affect them through new institutions of popular power, such as the communal councils. This attempt to create a “participatory democracy†is closely linked to the social gains, because the missions, such as Mission Robinson (literacy) and Mission Barrio Adentro (health care), are organised outside the existing state institutions (which are often corrupt and bureaucratic) and involve direct community participation.
Rest of the article...
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