Wikileaks cable reviews Hugo Chavez's "excellent and cheap" socialist restaurant

[Enrique]

Source: The Atlantic

http://www.theatlantic.com/food/archive/2010/12/hugo-chavezs-excellent-and-cheap-socialist-restaurant/67931/

(...)

FROM: CARACAS, VENEZUELA
TO: STATE DEPARTMENT
DATE: JANUARY 19, 2010
CLASSIFICATION: CONFIDENTIAL
SEE FULL CABLE

Socialism's Tangible - and Tasty -- Benefits

¶2. (U) President Chavez opened the "Arepera Socialista" with much fanfare on December 22, advertising its low price and high quality as symbolic of the benefits of his socialist revolution. (Note: "Arepas" are a Venezualan-style thick cornmeal tortilla usually used for a type of sandwich. End Note.) The restaurant, located in a lower middle class neighborhood of Caracas, serves "arepas" for about a fourth of their regular price. It is currently only open during weekday mornings, although there are plans to extend its hours, add coffee and fresh juice to its menu, and open two new locations in working class neighborhoods.

¶3. (SBU) On a January 8 visit, EmbOffs witnessed a long line of people waiting to get into the restaurant but surprisingly rapid service. Inside, one wall was dominated by a quote in large red lettering from Simon Bolivar: "The best system of government is that which produces the greatest happiness." An employee managing the line said the restaurant served 1,200 customers per day. One man in line said he worked in the neighborhood and came every day since the food was excellent and cheap.
Money is Secondary in Socialist Restaurants

¶4. (U) According to Minister of Commerce Eduardo Saman, people can count on low prices at the "arepera socialista" because the ingredients come from government-owned companies and other products, such as boxed juices, come from government-owned companies. Saman claimed the prices were sufficient to cover the store's operating costs. He also announced on December 23 that a chain of "Arepera Socialista" restaurants would be opened throughout Venezuela as part of the Socialist Market Cooperatives run by the Ministry of Commerce. Saman himself worked at the restaurant on December 24; other Ministry of Commerce employees were "volunteering" at the restaurant on the day of the Emboffs' visit. About 30 people work at the restaurant.

¶4. (U) Besides the price, Saman highlighted another key difference between socialist and capitalist "arepera": customers pay only after eating, while "in fast food chains . . . they only think about money." In the "Arepera Socialista," the cash register is in a corner of the room and customers pay only after eating, self-reporting how many of the "arepas" they ate.

Comment: Let Them Eat Arepas



Read more: http://www.theatlantic.com/food/archive/2010/12/hugo-chavezs-excellent-and-cheap-socialist-restaurant/67931/

[Psephos]

1. If only they delivered in Michigan. n/t

[Demeter]

2. If it doesn't snow and blow in Venezuela....

maybe I should move there.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

8. If "Arepas" is Spanish for "Sliders", I'll take a bag full

If the price is right, I might even go out in this weather and pick them up.

Arepas de Castillo Blanco!

:hi:

[Psephos]

13. "Arepas de Castillo Blanco" lol! n/t

[Ruperto31]

3. ¡Viva socialismo gustativo! (ningún texto)

[Judi Lynn]

4. This is tremendous! What a shame corporate sources forgot to include it earlier,

instead of endless reruns of earlier anti-Chavez themes.

They won't bother to mention it until someone from the rightists' dominion manages to slip in and contaminate a bunch of food somehow, or hires some criminals to shoot up one of the places, or use one of them as a dope selling location.

It must have pained the embassy to have to report this.

The concept of encouraging fast-food customers only pay the AFTER eating the food, and registering satisfaction or lack thereof, is uncommon, clearly.

http://www.vtv.gov.ve.nyud.net:8090/files/imagecache/Arepera%20Socialista.jpg

http://www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve.nyud.net:8090/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Arepera-Socialista-de-Parque-Central1.jpg

http://www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve.nyud.net:8090/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Trabajadoras-de-la-Arepera-Socialista.jpg

http://www.vtv.gob.ve.nyud.net:8090/files/imagecache/arepera_2.jpg
http://www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve.nyud.net:8090/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Arepera-Socialista.jpg

An Arepera Socialista located at the Rinconada Hippodrome train station

http://farm2.static.flickr.com.nyud.net:8090/1379/5154943212_256307728a_m.jpg http://2.bp.blogspot.com.nyud.net:8090/_QWpI040qS-k/SzH8o-FHzxI/AAAAAAAADsA/JHkByCbULPA/s320/Arepera+Socialista.jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com.nyud.net:8090/_bqioQ8Ant40/SzEbb8hW2sI/AAAAAAAADJQ/mMWYt-hsWy8/s400/2126701584_8ccea4ca74.jpg

http://www.abrebrecha.net.nyud.net:8090/operador2/1009/0925/mganz0925_1.jpg

Opening of a new Arepera on Colombus street in Anaco
open for breakfast, with free Internet access.

[Peace Patriot]

5. "the prices were sufficient to cover the store's operating costs." Now there's a concept!

No multi-billionaire buying his 10th mansion, 3rd private luxury jet and some entire small country somewhere, off this product--and using his billions to destroy labor unions, destroy free speech by buying up all the media and dictating that only corpo-fascist viewS be promulgated, destroying lives by supporting war and ripping up constitutions and replacing them with "corporate rights."

Good food, decent salaries, workers in control and proud of what they do and flocks of delighted customers. THAT is the REAL "marketplace."

:grouphug:

And, as another poster pointed out, this and numerous other stories of the Chavez government's REAL, FACTUAL, OBVIOUS and OFTEN REMARKABLE achievements are NEVER found in our corpo-fascist press. NEVER! This story made it only because a U.S. embassy employee rather remarkably reported something true back to Washington. The story that Venezuela was just designated THE MOST EQUAL COUNTRY IN LATIN AMERICA, on income distribution, by the UN Economic Commission on Latin America and the Caribbean, got NO COVERAGE. The story of Venezuela's remarkable economic growth--a sizzling 10% growth rate during the pre-Bushwhack Depression period from 2003 to 2008, with the most growth in the private sector (not including oil)--got NO COVERAGE. The Chavez government cutting poverty in half and extreme poverty by over 70% got NO COVERAGE. Vast improvements in educational opportunities and health care--NO COVERAGE. The facts about Venezuela's election system, which is far, FAR more transparent than our own, GETS NO COVERAGE. (It's an electronic voting system that the Venezuelans have figured out how to run with total transparency and no corporate intermediary, with 'TRADE SECRET' code, between the voters and the vote count.) Nothing. Nada. 'Chavez is a dictator.' 'Chavez is an incompetent booby destroying Venezuela.' That's all our people EVER hear.

And, by the way, the media in Venezuela is even worse than ours. So it ain't the media, kids. It's the VOTING MACHINES.

[NYMdaveNYI]

6. I like this guy. :D nt

[COLGATE4]

7. Now if Fearless Leader would spend some of the $5BB spent

on obsolete Russian armament replicating Arepera Socialista throughout the country, we might get somewhere. Just sayin'...
.

[EFerrari]

9. A crock. Venezuela is nowhere near the top weapons buying country

in the region and even they are only responding to the renewed efforts at militarization from the Pentagram.

Fearless Leader has cut poverty in his country by half while our people are depending on food stamps, 1 in 7.

Maybe you should be looking at DC purchases and not at Venezuela's

[Judi Lynn]

10. Here's a chart shared by DU'er ronnie624 from Janes to help you:

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk.nyud.net:8090/media/images/46373000/gif/_46373924_south_america_defence466.gif
On edit, adding a 2009 chart, which was available only some time after the above chart was published and posted here:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com.nyud.net:8090/_7Se7iswAanA/TAp7uQ0OdyI/AAAAAAAALuY/jCoYG_1-0BI/s1600/mil2.gif

This shows the Year-over-Year (YoY) change in military spending, with the 2009 spending as a percentage to 2008 spending.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com.nyud.net:8090/_7Se7iswAanA/TAp7u-uTZAI/AAAAAAAALug/AWGEUkmIB8M/s1600/mil3.gif

http://3.bp.blogspot.com.nyud.net:8090/_7Se7iswAanA/TAp7vLImGxI/AAAAAAAALuo/dgOJ7NwKrYM/s400/mil4.gif

[fascisthunter]

11. give it up already

[Judi Lynn]

12. Do you imagine their CHAIN of Areperas Socialistas will all be located in one spot?

Chances are, they intend to have these things everywhere, as announced.

As for their military spending, that's not your bidness, is it? They spend almost nothing compared to the U.S., compared to Colombia, Brazil, etc.

[pitohui]

14. for real or is this a satire?

tempted to fly down and try it for myself, tee hee

[AlphaCentauri]

15. I feel hungry now

[boppers]

16. THIS ENDANGERS NATIONAL SECURITY!

Please stop posting data from wikileaks! It puts our government and way of life at risk!


:sarcasm: <---for those who need it.

[On the Road]

17. It is Fine That Chavez is Using Resources to Feed the Fortunate

but by undercutting the going price by 75%, he's undercutting all the mom and pop businesses in the area. I don't know whether that is the way to go about it.

This is probably more a matter of politics and photo ops than serious economic policy, so I don't get the feeling this is going to be widespread.

Arepas can be wonderful BTW.