Oliver Stone hails Chavez

Let it be known that not all liberals agree with Stone. I sure as hell don't.

Juan Carlos: Why don't you shut up?

Chavez: Because I have no manners.

Maybe Stone can explain to me why Chavez had to become a dictator in order to raise living standards.

Coming from Mr. Conspiracist lol, I'm really not surprised him saying that. Both him and Penn should move to Valenzuela if they like it there soooooo much. Bye!

The Venezuelan people "want him, he's popular, the people love him, the majority of the people, because the living standards have gone up and that's what's ignored in so much of the reporting on Venezuela."

Regardless of what Americans may think of him, there is truth in this. According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, the Venezuelan economy grew on average by 11.85% from 2004 to 2007.

According to stats from the UN, poverty in Venezuela dropped from 55% in 1998, before Chavez entered office, to 28% in 2008.

Neither of these facts are to be scoffed at. Living standards have indeed gone up under his leadership. But it's how he accomplished this, I think, that rubs so many the wrong way. He for all intents and purposes robbed multinationals that invested legally in manufacturing infrastructure of countless billions, and his methods for dealing with political rivals is, well, frightening.

Regardless, the majority of Venezualans really do seem to like the guy. And if he's the person the people want as their leader, it really is no place of the United States or any other nation to interfere with that.

But it certainly doesn't dispell my distaste for his particular brand of populism. He's definitely not someone I'd invite over for dinner and drinks.

Before Chavez, “people were fed up.

I think now they would be pretty happy just being fed period since its a daily battle to find any milk or chicken to go along with the chronic shortages of toilet paper under Chavez's rule.

With Venezuelan Food Shortages, Some Blame Price Controls

Venezuela is one of the world’s top oil producers at a time of soaring energy prices, yet shortages of staples like milk, meat and toilet paper are a chronic part of life here, often turning grocery shopping into a hit or miss proposition.

Some residents arrange their calendars around the once-a-week deliveries made to government-subsidized stores like this one, lining up before dawn to buy a single frozen chicken before the stock runs out. Or a couple of bags of flour. Or a bottle of cooking oil.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/21/world/americas/venezuela-faces-shortages-in-grocery-staples.html?pagewanted=all