A GRIM FORECAST IN VENEZUELA

摘要

Leave it to hugo Chavez to turn natural calamity into political opportunity. As tor- rential rains left 130,000 Venezuelans homeless, the president leveraged the elements to his advantage. He won the legislature's blessing to rule the country by decree for the next 18 months "on humanitarian grounds." But his plans go way beyond aiding storm victims. Bundled into the package are measures that would allow confiscations of private property, higher taxes, state takeovers of banks and private companies, and cuts to foreign funding of nongovernmental organizations.