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I'm not from Bolivia, so I can't say much about Morales, other than he doesn't like chicken meat and seems to like copying Chavez whenever he's able to do so.
Regarding Chavez, the movement he leads is damaging the Venezuelan economy, and has quite a few defects. I would say that, based on the comments I see here, there seems to be a romantic idea within leftist ranks in the USA and Europe, which turns them blind towards the flaws in Chavez' ideas and actions. Or maybe they just happen to lack awareness of the real situation.
What do we observe in our lives? A surge in crime, very high inflation, dropping GDP, higher corruption, enormous waste of money, mismanagement (the current electricity crisis isn't really about the dry season being very dry, it's about poor maintenance of nationalized power plants and distribution system), arbitrary arrests of people who complain, churlish and juvenile behavior - likes to insult opponents and other nations' leaders. We see moves to limit de democratic system, perpetuating a party and a leader in power (as so many communists are prone to do), and continuation of some of the dumbest policies of the past, such as subsidizing gasoline at a very low price. I could go on and on, but things, my friend, just aren't what they seem to you guys.
I know some of the high frequency posters like to blame a "conspiracy" against Chavez, but I'm not part of a conspiracy. I happen to be getting ready to leave Venezuela, and i have free time to write. I also happen to be somewhat left of center, and really dislike American imperialism, so I like to criticize the USA (no harm intended, and I don't dislike Americans as individuals, but collectively they are a pain in the arse).
By the way, I guess I was too extreme in my comments about Israel, but I can do so because I've read Rabbi Akiva in the Talmud, and I'm far from being an Orthodox Jew or anything like that (I'm a bona fide atheist), but I can say honestly that it seems to me the Israel we see today isn't exactly what the god of the Jews had in mind.
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