Peter Krupa

There’s a nice story in the New York Times about how Chávez is becoming a failure. First he lost the referendum, now his hostage rescue gimmick has been called off. (Also for you readers at home: The FARC holds 25 Venezuelan hostages. Chávez has yet to lobby for their release.)

It goes along with something Ona and I noticed on our 10-day visit to Venezuela over the holidays: Despite the unbelievable amounts of cash swilling into the economy thanks to the country’s oil boom, there are few signs of prosperity.

No big construction projects. No new highways. People have to wait in line for food staples like flour, milk, and sugar, if they can get them at all. There is plenty of imported whiskey, however, and plenty of state-purchased propaganda billboards, newspaper advertising, and public television channels. (Remember RCTV? It’s now a state owned channel that broadcasts Cuban baseball games.)
There are also plenty of cars and new car dealerships. It’s cheap to drive thanks to massive government fuel subsidies. I watched my father-in-law put 52 liters of gas in his Ford Explorer for about $2.50.

Along with that, inflation last year was at 22 percent - the highest in Latin America - and crime has grown wildly out of control, with 30 or so bodies turning up in Caracas every weekend. In some districts there is literally not enough morgue space.

See, here’s the thing that Chávez and his supporters have missed: Ideology is all well and good, but to get things done you also need a good manager.

Almost a decade into a Chávez administration, I think we can finally say that his tenure has been a failure. He had billions of dollars in cold cash at his disposal, and he built nothing that will last. He has invested nothing and created nothing other than bitter political division.

Chávez won’t be remembered as a dictator. He’ll be remembered as a bad president who squandered his country’s wealth.

Another chapter in the sad story of petro-states.