Venezuela: Poverty drops
President Hugo Chavez announced Feb. 20 that poverty in Venezuela fell 40 percentage points between 1997 and 2007, a period when unemployment dropped from 15 percent to 7 percent. Analyst Okrim Al Qasal (okrimopina.blogspot.com) documents poverty reduced from 50.4 percent in 1998 to 45 percent in 2001, but rising to 62 percent in 2003 because of right-wing sabotage and slowdown affecting state oil company revenues.
Victory in that struggle and burgeoning of social missions brought rates down to 43.7 percent in 2005, and 33 percent last year. Corresponding rates for extreme poverty were 20.3 percent in 1998, 16.9 percent in 2001, and 29.8 percent in 2003, followed by 17.8 percent in 2005 and 9.4 percent last year.
Cuba: A globalized economy
New data testify to Cuban success in overcoming U.S.-imposed economic isolation. Canadian, European, Chinese and Brazilian oil companies are exploring for or producing oil and natural gas from reserves in the Gulf of Mexico estimated at two-thirds those in Alaska.
Fidel Castro’s decision no longer to serve as Cuba’s president triggered an 8 percent rise in share prices for Sherritt Corporation of Canada that, according to energyandcapital.com, is extracting 60,000 barrels daily from Cuban deposits.
Last year Cuba imported $437.5 million worth of food products from the United States, now Cuba’s leading foreign food supplier with sales totaling $1.99 billion since 2001.
World Notes are compiled by W.T. Whitney (atwhit@roadrunner.com)
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