The Basic Promises Never Kept by Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution

When the late Hugo Chávez won his first election in December 1998, he did so by making four basic promises: build a "more authentic" democracy, reduce poverty, fight corruption and forge "bonds of brotherhood" with the world. That was much ado about nothing. This week, three of Venezuela's top universities revealed in a study on poverty that 73% of the homes in the country have reached critical poverty levels, compared with an already high 48.4% registered a year ago. What is more, according to the study, 76% of Venezuelans is at – or below – the line that separates the poor from the non-poor, vs. 52.6% forecast in 2014. More…