Venezuela’s National Institute for Statistics on better statistics on poverty
By Miguel Octavio
The Venezuelan National Institute for Statistics INE, said today that poverty had in decreased Venezuela during the month of November. According to the Head of the Institute, poverty stands now at 53% of all Venezuelans being below the poverty level. This is obviously very good news and I welcome it. In fact, this is the least I would have expected from the fact that oil prices are so high, it should have some trickle down effect.
Mr. Eljuri also said that 25% of Venezuelans live in critical poverty with the rest having income which is at least twice the “basic basket of foodstuffs”.
Now, where things get truly Goebbelian or Orwellian is when Mr. Eljuri proceeds to criticize the opposition for saying that poverty is at 70%. According to Mr. Eljuri: “the opposition commits a premeditated error by adding the number of critical poverty to the percentage of poverty in the country”
This is really funny. First of all, Mr. Eljuri succeeded Mr. Molina at the National Institute for Statistics when Chavez fired him for reporting that poverty has only increased during Chavez’ term as reported then in this blog. What is so incredible Goebbelian about this, is that it was Hough Chavez himself who propagated the false number of 80% poverty during his Presidential campaign in 1998. I wrote once a letter to a reader where I took exception to him using Chavez’ number. In fact, as far back as March 2003 in this blog, I was taking the Government to task for their poverty number which always seems to be below that of the Center at the Catholic University that has been studying poverty for the last thirty years. (It is so cool to have a blog for so long that everything is there on the record!)
In fact, you can check yourself for Chavez propagation of the 80% number, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here or right here in another Devilish source.
But now that the revolution has control of everything, they want to say it was the opposition that spread the 80% number, or simply, they want to say Chavez reduced it from 80% to the current 53%. Whatever the reason may be in the twisted and perverse minds of this fake revolution, it is another bizarre attempt at changing history. As my own charting programs for Mac’s used to say: Do you want to change history? It would ask in Russian: Da! or No! You figure it out.
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