Chavez deepens social revolution to feed the poor

VENEZUELAN president Hugo Chavez has announced plans to deepen his social “revolution” for the poor by expanding state-subsidised markets and speeding up land reform.

Speaking during his weekly television and radio show on Sunday, Mr Chavez said that by the end of this year state-run markets should be providing 15 million Venezuelans with food - or about 60% of the population of 25 million.

The government says the markets serve about 10 million Venezuelans, providing food at lower prices than standard supermarkets with the help of government subsidies. Mr Chavez, who says he is leading the country away from capitalism toward socialism, said there is a pressing need to eradicate corruption.

Mr Chavez spent about seven hours in the north-western city of Coro to promote his programme, inspecting cheese and bologna at a state-run market, and later singing songs to the applause of supporters. He visited cooks inside a soup kitchen for the poor, one of 1,000 such programmes he said were being inaugurated yesterday, bringing the total to more than 5,000. Mr Chavez said “feeding houses” should reach more than 6,000 next month, making sure the poorest Venezuelans receive enough to eat.

With Venezuela the world’s fifth largest oil exporter, Mr Chavez has taken advantage of windfall oil profits to spend billions of dollars on social programmes and public projects.

“Venezuela is going through positive times,” said Mr Chavez, who pledged the government would “accelerate” a land reform programme that has begun turning over ranch lands to the poor in cases where officials say ownership hasn’t been prove.

Mr Chavez also said the state-run oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, is for the first time using dividends from its Houston-based subsidiary to fund social programmes.

“Now we decide here how the earnings are spent,” he said, claiming untold millions were “stolen” by US executives in the past while no funds were sent back to Venezuela.