Despite Chavez, Venezuela economy not socialist

[Zorro]

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It's President Hugo Chavez's biggest economic battle cry, and it's getting louder as Venezuela suffers a recession: "We're going to bury Venezuelan capitalism."

Yet creating a socialist economy is one of Chavez's most elusive goals — a stark example of the disconnect between the president's rhetoric and the reality on the ground. In fact, the private sector still controls two-thirds of Venezuela's economy — the same as when Chavez was elected in 1998, according to estimates by the Central Bank.

The reasons are political and practical: Chavez knows most Venezuelans recoil from the idea of Cuban-style state control, and his government is far from being capable of taking over and running a majority of the economy.

"Basically he recognizes that in this day and age in a global economy ... complete state control would just doom the country," said Michael Shifter, an analyst at the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue.

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More at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100718/ap_on_bi_ge/lt_venezuela_what_socialism_3