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In Venezuela, uncertainty spurs a middle-class exodus (Chavez is causing a brain drain)
The Christian Science Monitor ^ | October 11, 2007 | Sara Miller Llana

Posted on 11/17/2007 10:15:04 PM PST by grundle

Now that he's calling for a referendum to reform the Constitution, including eliminating term limits for heads of state, this country is seeing a migration of middle-class residents who say they are fleeing economic and political instability and persistent crime.

"We never thought of living anywhere else. Venezuela is the most beautiful country in the world, and we have everything there. But if he reforms the Constitution, Venezuela is going to be a very dark place, and there is nothing we can do about it," says Lissette, tearing up. (She and Mervin did not want their family's last name published because they haven't left Venezuela for good yet.) "The truth is we need another option."

They are not alone. According to Luis Vicente Leon, the director of the polling company Datanalisis, 1 in 3 Venezuelans would consider leaving the country if they could. In addition to politics, they're driven by annual inflation of about 16 percent and a weakening national currency. Oil wealth has largely skipped over the middle class while blessing the rich and funding billion-dollar social programs.

The number of Venezuelans leaving is hard to nail down. According to the US Embassy in Caracas, the number of nonimmigrant visa cards has risen from 70,366 in 2003 to 109,586 last year.

But many Venezuelans are opting for other countries, as US immigration laws have tightened in the wake of 9/11. Nearby Panama, with a similar climate and political and economic stability, is a popular alternative.

(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: venezuela
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To: WoofDog123

I have no idea what you mean.

Rich jet setting Venezuelans are not going to come to America to pay taxes. Illegal alien Venezuelans will just bring more slave labor and crime.

They should all stay in their own country and fight for their own freedom.


21 posted on 11/18/2007 1:20:09 AM PST by donna (ADHD - Absent Dad/Husband Disorder)
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To: SolidWood
If we couldn’t prevent the Dem takeover in 2006 and possibly Hillary in 2008, what good are we?

Considering we don't have a "contingency plan" like the Venezuelans feeling socialism down there and running to the US, not much...

22 posted on 11/18/2007 4:12:34 AM PST by Caipirabob (Communists... Socialists... Democrats...Traitors... Who can tell the difference?)
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To: grundle

Dont let them into the US. They all hate our guts. Some just hate Huggy a little more.


23 posted on 11/18/2007 5:15:52 AM PST by DogBarkTree (The correct word isn't "immigrant" when what they are doing is "invading".)
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To: grundle
"The truth is we need another option."

How about you take some of those 100,000 AK 47 rifles Mr. Chavez was bragging about buying and shoot that Commie pig b@$t@rd?

24 posted on 11/18/2007 5:19:45 AM PST by Hardastarboard (DemocraticUnderground.com is an internet hate site.)
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To: grundle

“...this country is seeing a migration of middle-class residents who say they are fleeing economic and political instability and persistent crime.”

One could easily stick the word “Michigan” into this sentence.


25 posted on 11/18/2007 5:23:52 AM PST by sergeantdave (The majority of Michigan voters are that stupid and the condition is incipient and growing.)
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To: grundle

Fifty percent of the people believe in Chavez while one third would consider leaving the country?


26 posted on 11/18/2007 5:35:36 AM PST by Bloodclot
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To: Bloodclot

Note to self: don’t try to do math in the morning.


27 posted on 11/18/2007 5:38:00 AM PST by Bloodclot
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To: grundle
"Oil wealth has largely skipped over the middle class while blessing the rich and funding billion-dollar social programs."

A leftist author, with no sight, sees the true face of socialism.

28 posted on 11/18/2007 5:46:05 AM PST by norwaypinesavage (Planting trees to offset carbon emissions is like drinking water to offset rising ocean levels)
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To: Bloodclot

Two Venezuelans have been hired by the company I work for. Both are first class people and have a lot to contribute.


29 posted on 11/18/2007 6:01:42 AM PST by Eric in the Ozarks (Go Hawks !)
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To: grundle

It will be similar to the exodus shortly after Castro took over Cuba.

I have a friend that left Cuba. The government confiscated everything he had, wouldn’t allow him to leave with anything.
He snuck a $50 dollar bill out in his Zippo lighter.
That was all he took.

Came to Miami and started a new life.

Most of the immigrants that left Cuba early were the Drs., lawyers, businessmen.
It was the Mariel Boatlift that brought the dredges here.

I had an appendectomy in Miami and one of the attending physicians was a Cuban Dr. interning for his US license. He was in his mid 50’s. Excellent Dr.


30 posted on 11/18/2007 6:36:31 AM PST by Vinnie (You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Jihads You)
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To: Hardastarboard
When things get too bad, chavez will just find a scape goat and the masses will eat it up.

The perfect scape goat is colonialism.

It’s all the european imperialists fault. See those three little countries to the east of venezuela? Those are european imperialist nations. The only way venezuela can survive is to throw off the imperialism of it’s neighbors. Venezuela needs to liberate those nations and take back what the imperialists have stolen.../s

31 posted on 11/18/2007 6:51:16 AM PST by mamelukesabre
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To: SolidWood

I have been saying this for years. At least 50% of the USA believes in freeloading and legalized theft (taxation). The schools teach that morality is judgmental, so we should teach morality. The schools teach that poverty is an accident of birth, therefore the rich should take care of the poor. Etc., etc.

And it isn’t just public schools that are terrible, its private schools as well. Teachers, for the most part, tend to think they are smarter than everyone else, Ergo, they preach the popular message. Since students are naive, they are willing dupes for populist messages.

Its only going to get worse in this country. We are becoming Venezuela.


32 posted on 11/18/2007 7:03:21 AM PST by whitedog57
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To: mamelukesabre

I know you’re being sarcastic, but that’s actually not a bad anaylsis of what Chavez will ultimately do.


33 posted on 11/18/2007 7:32:55 AM PST by Hardastarboard (DemocraticUnderground.com is an internet hate site.)
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To: Hardastarboard

Yes I know.

The sarcasm tag was there because of the use of the word “liberate”.


34 posted on 11/18/2007 7:42:55 AM PST by mamelukesabre
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To: Fairview

si.


35 posted on 11/18/2007 7:44:14 AM PST by ken21 ( people die + you never hear from them again.)
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To: SolidWood

“We” just proved that we can and will outspend the dems on social programs. So we are no good no matter what the dems do.


36 posted on 11/18/2007 8:03:22 AM PST by winodog ( Coming Attractions: They cant legislate morality but can legislate hate)
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To: donna

I understood him. The middle class is fleeing and they are the type of legal immigrants that made America great.
But it doesnt matter because the feds make the rules and they will not allow legal immigrants of this sort.
They prefer more of the destitute type of illegals. That way they can finish off the middle class in America and the world will be as it should be.
The elite ruling over the poor.
But what do I know. I am just a tax sheep, baaaaaaaaaaaaa


37 posted on 11/18/2007 8:10:39 AM PST by winodog ( Coming Attractions: They cant legislate morality but can legislate hate)
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To: winodog
. . .the feds make the rules and they will not allow legal immigrants of this sort.

Oh, what nonsense. These people are coming into the US, particularly into Florida and Georgia, and there appear to be no obstructions to their immigration. Wherever you go in Florida you encounter Venezuelans dressed exquisitely, showing gracious manners and refined tastes (and when you're not looking, working like dogs to build successful businesses).

38 posted on 11/18/2007 8:39:03 AM PST by Fairview ( Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.)
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To: grundle

How long now, until Hugo announces plans to use oil revenues, to begin construction on the “Venezuela Wall”?


39 posted on 11/18/2007 8:45:48 AM PST by Cringing Negativism Network (I like Duncan Hunter)
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To: Fairview

I admit thats stretching it a little bit. Nonetheless, the feds have changed immigration laws many times and it is not easy to get here legally unless you are a certain type. The rules are not equal for everyone.


40 posted on 11/18/2007 8:58:20 AM PST by winodog ( Coming Attractions: They cant legislate morality but can legislate hate)
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