Maggie's Farm

I am very knowledgeable about Venezuela and have no problem dealing with PSF, a.k.a. Pendejos sin Fronteras. (idiots beyond/without frontiers.) My years of reading the Z-Team's postings on this and other blogs indicate to me that the Z-Team falls short of the level of derangement needed to currently defend Chavismo. Perhaps the Z-Team will prove me wrong.

My take on those commenters who today defend Chavismo is that they can be divided into two parts: hard-core Chavistas/PSF who are in it for the long haul, and deranged lefties who a year ago couldn't pick out Venezuela on a map and still can't distinguish an arepa from an aardvark.

Yes, there is a lot of radio silence these days regarding Venezuela- especially from the Hollywood crowd. Sean Penn? Oliver Stone? I was referring to those who STILL publicly supported Chavismo, as shown in blog comments. As you point out, that number is much reduced from previous years.

You may recall last year during the presidential campaign that there was a lot of back and forth about Bernie Sanders and Venezuela. Wingnuts: Consider the failure of socialism in Venezuela when you look at Socialist Bernie. Progs: Bernie's socialism isn't about Venezuela at all, but about Sweden or Denmark. Bernie: no comment.

Turns out that Bernie actually had made a statement in 2011 in support of Chavezuela. From the sanders.senate.gov website:Close The Gaps: Disparities That Threaten America.. The American dream is more likely to be realized in Venezuela than in the United States, Bernie Sanders tells us. As we all want to realize the American dream, we should emulate Venezuela, Bernie Sanders tells us. Just as Mayor Bernie said that Sandinista Nicaragua should be a model for Vermont.

BTW, while Venezuela is purported to have those GREAT inequality statistics that Bernie Sanders adores, they don't take into account all the billions that the upper level Chavistas are skimming off the top. If that were reported in the income figures, the reported inequality figures for Venezuela would be a lot higher.

How accurate was Bernie in his statement about income inequality in the US compared to the above 3 South American Countries? It turns out, not very accurate.

Today in 2017, the World Bank has GINI (inequality) data up to 2014, so it is fair to conclude that when Bernie spoke in 2011, he had 2008 GINI data available.

GINI index (World Bank estimate)
United States 2007 41.75
Argentina 2008 46.27
Ecuador 2008 50.61
Venezuela 2006 46.94

From the UN's Economic Commission on Latin America(ECLA/CEPAL):
ECLA/CEPAL GINI Index
Ecuador 2008 .504
Venezuela 2006 .447
Venezuela 2008 .412

The World Bank reports the GINI index on a scale of 1 to 100. The ECLA reports the GINI index on a scale of 0 to 1. Nonetheless, they give similar results. The lower the GINI index, the more equal the income distribution. By the above figures, the US had more equal incomes than Ecuador and Argentina. While Venezuela had a more equal income distribution than the US, the difference was minimal. .412/41.2 versus 41.75.

Bernie has the reputation of being a pol who "tells it like it is." Bernie's misreporting the differences in equality of income when comparing the US with Ecuador and Argentina shows that instead of being an honest sort who tells it like it is, Bernie will say anything that will advance his agenda- in this case castigating the US- whether it is true or not.
Bernie is just another BSing politician. Not surprising when you consider that Senator Three-House Bernie is up in arms about income inequality. Equality for thee, not for me, says Senator Three-House Bernie.

While some may point out in defense of Bernie that he did call Hugo Chavez a "communist dictator," one should bear in mind the decades-long bromance Bernie has had with Fidel Castro, also a "communist dictator."

CEPAL/ECLA Stat

World Bank Development Indicators.

Close The Gaps: Disparities That Threaten America.

World Bank.

CEPAL/ECLA Stat.