A few months ago, Hugo Chávez suddenly realized that, yes, crime was a problem.
With the election now in the history books, folks can go back to killing each other in peace, courtesy of the President’s paquetazo.
Wanna know how much of a priority crime-fighting is for the inept ruler of Venezuela? Venezuela’s 2013 Budget includes a cut in public safety funds.
According to Veneconomy, the budget
- slashes funding for public safety and internal security by 38%;
- cuts funds for the justice and prosecution systems by 17%; and
- lets loose 35.9% of the police officers under the helm of the Interior Ministry.
Oh, but wait. There are things that increase, a ton: the defense budget is up 25.8%, and the number of soldiers increases by 5.6%.
What do you call a government that cuts basic services and increases defense spending? Clueless.
What do you call a government that does this in the middle of an oil boom and an unprecedented crime wave? Murderous.
Caracas Chronicles 
You nailed with this one.
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and there goes Jaua saying that never a Venezuelan government has spent so much in safety…
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Yes, the safety of the gov’t officials…
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Man, awesome post. There comes a good amount of clarity when we forget the history of the matter and just look at what’s being done.
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I understand the incentives to spend more on Defense. The Bolibourgeoisie wants the kickback badly and Chavez need a strong elite (i.e. $trong) to finance his political project. Same old, same old. What bothers me is the complete disregard for public safety and crime. What gives? Who benefits from that, besides the pranes and petty criminals?
P.S. Something is not working right with the posts lately. Rosita’s is stuck up there and the newest posts (this one and the one about Carabobo’s race) are relegated. Shouldn’t the latest post be the first one to appear?
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I mean, do they actually believe that the only reason there are criminals is because of capitalism? Do they really believe that socialism is a solution to the high crime rates in Venezuela? Could they be THAT stupid?
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“they” know that it is the armed criminals who will go out on the streets and defend the system, which has helped them, when the time comes. that is not so stupid …the opposition will b lambs to the slaughter.
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But then, why all the bodyguards? Yes, some of those bodyguards have criminal ties or are criminal themselves, but still. Now and then you listen that someone related to the members of the nomenklatura got stolen or even kidnapped. It’s confusing, to say the least…
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The clearest picture yet that shows chavismo is convinced there is little link between votes/support from their base and crime.
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Dejando que el país se vaya al infierno, cuando den dádivas en época de elecciones van a generar una “sensación de mejoría” entre los votantes y volverán a votar por ellos. Mientras no hayan elecciones hay que gastar en lo más importante: Los militares. Así que no estoy de acuerdo contigo cuando usas el adjetivo “Clueless”. En todo caso tu y yo ,-que estamos en contra-, somos los que estamos “meando fuera del perol”. Chávez mantiene contento a los únicos que lo pueden sacar del poder cuando gobierna para él y no para mejorar la vida de los ciudadanos. En todo caso, esta misión debería llamarse “Atornillamiento A La Silla”.
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