Just as castro plundered and ruined Cuba, so it goes in Venezuela.
From El Universal:
Venezuelan state bank offers low-interest loans for tourism travels to Cuba
Hugo Chávez’ Government is encouraging tourism travels to Cuba by offering four plans to visit towns such as Havana, Varadero, Trinidad, Santiago, Camagüey, Guardalavaca and Holguín.
Rafael Rivolta Rincón, Vice-Minister of Quality and Tourism Services, Ministry of Tourism, said “the goal this year is to benefit 100,000 Venezuela from all social strata by offering them financing at lower interest rates through (state-owned bank) Banco Industrial de Venezuela.”
Josmar García, the head of the program, invited Venezuelans, either government officials or not, to participate in the plans.
Let me see if I have this right. Venezuela’s repulsive dictator subsidizes Cuba in exchange for Cuban doctors and god only knows what else. Then said dictator uses the benefits the doctors provide for propaganda to prop up his image, which helps him “win” re-election, while Cuba receives good press and mucho dinero. It’s really just a money-trading scheme based on theft and slavery.
Now that the Cuban doctors are defecting in droves, what else can Cuba give Venezuela? Money, and since Cuba has this great tourist industry, why not give low interest loans to Venezuelans for Tourism Travel to Cuba.
When it comes to economic strategy, chavez surely must be making papa fidel proud; he might even set a new record for the fastest ruination of a country. What an inspired scheme! Loan your citizens’ money to a thief, and then arrange for those very same citizens to help pay back the loan. Like other fascist thugs before him, no doubt chavez’ personal bank account is safe.
Venezuelan vacationers going to Cuba… Don’t eat the food. Don’t get sick while you are there. Don’t accidentally injure yourself or require emergency care. Do not drink liquids while visiting Cuba. Do not touch your nose, eyes, mouth or ears while on vacation. Don’t go without plenty of mosquito repellent and netting if you plan to sleep while visiting Cuba. Don’t expect to have a good time. Finally, if you die while there do not expect your corpse to arrive home with all your internal organs still there.
I wonder if the Hague will drag him in front of a jury when he’s 80 like they did with Pinochet, something tells me probably not.
Ziva, I must differ with you, I think Mugabe from Zimbabwe has been faster than Chávez in ruining his country, but I think Chávez has had more publicity than Mugabe, even though I can be wrong.
The incredibly sad thing about Venezuela is that all of this mess, which will only get worse, could and should have been avoided, and there’s not much excuse for failing to do so. Chavez was never very hard to read. Just looking at the guy and paying attention to his comportment should have been enough to steer clear of him, even apart from strictly ideological considerations. The guy is like an animal with clothing, for crying out loud…a cheap thug at best. How could people of at least average intelligence and sense have fallen for him?