Venezuela: Oil bonds for sale, while collectivization rears its ugly head

At the Beeb today, Oil bonds for sale in Venezuela

Investors in Venezuela are being encouraged to buy bonds in state oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).

Bonds totalling $5bn (£2.5bn) are being issued to pay off debts and finance a huge expansion over the next few years.

Venezuela has one of the world's largest reserves of crude oil, but getting to that oil is costly and hence the need for extra funds.

Extra funds... while oil revenues last year were at an all-time high. The $5 billion is only a fraction of the amount Hugo committed towards weapons purchases in 2006, as regular readers of my blog know.

Let me state it succintly: invest in the bonds and waste your money.

The beginning of the latest edition of an oil-for-food scam: Bribery ring allegedly involved in Venezuela-Iran agreements

Local press reports claimed that the bribery ring operates in connection with the Venezuelan-Iranian Plan, which started to be implemented in mid-2005. This plan provides for construction of facilities to install corn and milk processing plants, plastic injection facilities, and plants manufacturing car spare parts and modules for cooling chambers, with Iranian advice.

Based on the report, strategic partnership agreements were initialed with some construction firms that were asked for payment of 20-26 percent commission to be awarded the contracts.

Chavez lays out collective property plan

President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that his administration plans to create "collective property" as part of sweeping reforms toward socialism, and that officials would move to seize control of large ranches and redistribute lands deemed "idle."

The Venezuelan leader, speaking on his television and radio program "Hello President," said the government was "advancing quickly" with a concept of "social, or collective, property" to be included in forthcoming constitutional reforms.

"It's property that belongs to everyone and it's going to benefit everyone," said Chavez, who vowed to undermine capitalism's continued influence in Venezuela.

Via Larwyn, Chavez takes another step down road to ruin:

One of the lessons of the 20th century is that collectivization is a massive failure that leads to less productivity and more waste. It is ironic that in a matter of days after China takes steps to guarantee private property right in their booming economy, Chavez goes in the opposite direction with his failing economy. If he had no oil, he would be as bad off as Mugabe

Prarie Pundit is too kind: Collectivization brings about famine.