Socialist Dictator Hugo Chavez has seized private businesses in Venezuela and many Venezuelans are fleeing the country, yet BusinessWeek magazine found a silver lining:
“In some respects, business has never been better,” claimed Geri Smith in the June 25 issue.
Smith quoted Venezuelan American Chamber of Commerce President Edmond J. Saade who said:
“It’s a bit like the … French Revolution. Power to the people, death to nobility.”
Smith’s claim that business has never been better even ignored the Venezuelan businessman she quoted in her story. The businessman who didn't reveal his name out of fear said “his company has shrunk to just 100 employees from 300 since Chavez came to power in 1999, and sales have fallen by half.”
It also ignored the fact that stealing assets harm those people who no longer have control of their own properties:
“Chávez has already forced global oil giants, phone carriers, and power companies to hand over control of key assets. Now he says he might nationalize banks, hospitals, and steel companies,” Smith wrote.
The media have had a bizarre fascination with the Venezuelan dictator over the last few months, as the Business & Media Institute has documented. BusinessWeek managed to put a new spin on it by suggesting Chavez’s ways are partly good for business.
Smith also praised the way Chavez stole oil revenue and spend $13.3 billion on redistributing wealth, and left out the negative impact on poverty and human rights that the dictator has created.
