The document discusses Hugo Chavez, the former president of Venezuela. It summarizes that Chavez was initially a military officer who was jailed after a coup attempt in 1992. After being released in 1994, he went into politics and was elected president in 1998. As president, he implemented social programs to help the poor but mismanaged the state-run oil company, leading to declining oil production. Chavez remained president for over 14 years until his death in 2013, leaving Venezuela's economy and political future uncertain.
The document discusses Hugo Chavez, the former president of Venezuela. It summarizes that Chavez was initially a military officer who was jailed after a coup attempt in 1992. After being released in 1994, he went into politics and was elected president in 1998. As president, he implemented social programs to help the poor but mismanaged the state-run oil company, leading to declining oil production. Chavez remained president for over 14 years until his death in 2013, leaving Venezuela's economy and political future uncertain.
The document discusses Hugo Chavez, the former president of Venezuela. It summarizes that Chavez was initially a military officer who was jailed after a coup attempt in 1992. After being released in 1994, he went into politics and was elected president in 1998. As president, he implemented social programs to help the poor but mismanaged the state-run oil company, leading to declining oil production. Chavez remained president for over 14 years until his death in 2013, leaving Venezuela's economy and political future uncertain.
English. Skip: And this is Skip Montreux. Thank you all for downloading us today. Dez: How have you been Skip? Skip: Hmmm. Good and bad I guess. I took a few days off from work last week. Dez: That sounds good. Skip: Yes it was really nice not to have to do anything, but at the same time I came down with a bit of a cold so it wasn't the greatest holiday. Dez: You have to take the rough with the smooth I suppose. Skip: I guess that it is true. Speaking of taking the rough with the smooth, or as I would say, the good with the bad, one country that has been having to do that over the last few years is Venezuela. Dez: That is certainly true. Some things have improved while others have gotten worse and things are really set to change now. Skip: You mean now that President Hugo Chavez has recently passed away? Dez: That is precisely what I'm referring to, and thats our topic for today. Skip: So lets do it. Lets get D2B...Down to Business with Venezuela; where is it today, how did it get there, and what does the future hold in the post Chavez era? Skip: Dez, as our regular listeners know, you have spent some time in Latin America in the past. Dez: That's right. I've spent time in Panama and Argentina to mention two. Skip: How about Venezuela? Did your travels ever take you there? Dez: No, unfortunately they didn't, but Ive certainly heard good things about the nature and the friendliness of the Venezuelan people and, of course, Ive heard a lot about Hugo Chavez, especially his dislike for ex-US President Bush. Skip: I'd say dislike is putting it very mildly. His hatred for George W. Bush is pretty legendary. He even went as far as calling him the devil in a speech at the United Nations. But lets back up a bit. Could you tell us about Chavez's history and how he became president of Venezuela. Dez: Sure. Chavez was initially a Lieutenant Colonel in the Venezuelan army and was jailed in 1992 for his part in an attempted military coup or uprising. He remained in jail until 1994 when he was freed by the newly elected president, Caldera. Caldera had pledged to release Chavez and his co-conspirators if they agreed not to return to the military. Skip: Was that one of Caldera's campaign promises? Dez: That's right. Chavez was a very popular gure in the country. Skip: Well that sounds like a reasonable request. Dez: After being released from prison, instead of returning to the military, Chavez elected to go into politics and subsequently gained a lot of support from the countries poor, nally winning Down to Business English 063 - The Life & Times of Hugo Chavez Record Date: March 30, 2013 www.downtobusinessenglish.com p.1 of 4 www.downtobusinessenglish.com [email protected] From Tokyo Japan and Abu Dhabi, UAE, this is Down to Business English. Business News to improve your Business English. With your hosts Skip Montreux and Dez Morgan. the election in 1998. Chavez true to his word set out on a range of reforms to improve access to health, food, social security and land for the poorest in society. Skip: He sounds like a true socialist. Dez: Yes he certainly was and he became a close friend of Cubas Fidel Castro. Skip: And I bet the US liked that. Dez: I think we can safely say that they didnt. Anyway returning to 1998, Chavez rst focused on domestic policy with the reforms mentioned earlier and at that time was fairly friendly towards the US. In fact he was a fairly regular visitor to Washington. Skip: Didnt he get ousted from power in 2002 or 2003? Dez: It was 2002 and yes he was ousted by members of the old order before being reinstated 48 hours later. Chavez felt that the long arm of Washington had assisted in the coup. Skip: And had it? Dez: The US government has always strongly denied any involvement but its a fair guess to assume that they knew of the coup beforehand and didnt feel the need to warn Chavez that it was coming. Skip: I see. So Chavez was back in power and not very happy with the United States. Dez: Yes, and it was from this point that he became increasingly politicized and started to speak out against the US and its policies in Latin America. To maintain support he increased his social programs to help the poor. Skip: But Dez, even if social programs are benecial, they are generally quite expensive and Venezuela is not a rich country. How could Chavez afford these programs? Dez: That's a very good question Skip. Don't forget that Venezuela is the second largest oil producer in the region, only just slightly below Brazil. And oil prices were pretty high at the time Chavez returned to power. Skip: So the country had money coming in? Dez: It did and it certainly spent it too. Minimum wages were increased and some people began to have a better life. But problems started to come up when Chavez began appointing people loyal to his cause to positions in the state run oil company. Skip: You mean that loyalty was a more important qualication than knowledge in the oil business? Dez: I do. If we look at oil production in Venezuela, you can see that it peaked in 2001 and has been slowly declining ever since, mostly because of mismanagement and a lack of investment. Skip: That is quite the contrast to corporate oil companies like Exxon or Shell which saw huge growth during the same period. Dez: That is a good observation. With Chavez spending so much on social programs, little was left for reinvestment. Chavez also did other things with state oil that didn't help the bottom line. Skip: Oh, for example? Dez: Well, he started to provide oil to Cuba in exchange for trained medical staff and teachers, further reducing revenue. Another example was in an attempt to embarrass the US government, he used Citgo, a Venezuelan owned but US based company to provide low cost heating oil to poor areas in the United States. Skip: Really. You know, one question I have always had about Chavez was that he was re-elected several times on the strength of his popularity. But didnt Venezuela once have the same law as the US. where a president could only serve two terms in ofce. Dez: It did but Chavez held a referendum in 2009 that repealed the term limit on The President and state governors thus allowing him to run for ofce again. Skip: So in total, Chavez was in power in Venezuela for just over 14 years. p.2 of 4 www.downtobusinessenglish.com 063 -Hugo Chavez [email protected] Dez: Thats right. Skip: So what does the country's economy look like today? Is it better now than when he rst became President. Dez: In some ways yes, and in some ways no. Most certainly, life for the poor has improved but Chavez tended to micromanage situations rather than having overall policies. The result is that the economy is in a bit of a mess. Ination is very high due to currency devaluations, crime is particularly high and corruption is widespread across the government. Skip: And in your opinion Dez, what does the future hold for Venezuela? Dez: Thats a difcult question. For each election Chavez and his party won the majority was smaller and smaller, so its not certain whether a Chavez supporter or an opponent will take the role of President in the future. Skip: But what is certain, I would think, is that whoever takes the job of President, wont be able to do it with as much charisma as the late President Chavez. Dez: That I believe is almost certainly true. Skip: Well Dez, shall we? Dez: Yes indeed lets get D2V...Down to Vocabulary. Be sure to visit the Down to Business English website to download your free audio script of today's podcast. www.downtobusinessenglsih.com That's www.downtobusinessenglsih.com Skip: I will start things off with the noun coup. A coup happens when another group, often the military takes power in a country by force. In the story Dez said that Chavez was jailed in 2002 for his part in an attempted military coup. He was a member of a group that tried to takeover the country by force. Dez: Thats the more general use of coup, but in business when a company unexpectedly takes over leadership from another its described as a coup. Do you remember the Sony Walkman? Skip: I sure do. Almost everyone had one, followed by the discman as CDs became more popular. Dez: I think that it is fair to say that the iPod was a major coup for Apple. Skip: Oh, that is a very appropriate example Dez. Apple completely took over the market leaving everyone else far behind. Dez: My rst word is the noun co-conspirator, which I think I need to break down for you. A conspirator is a person who makes plans in secret to do something that is often illegal and t he prex co means t oget her. So co- conspirators are people who work together to make an action. Skip: You mean like when members of the board at Apple met in secret to remove Steve Jobs from the position of CEO, way back in the 1980s before he reappeared in 1996 to lead the company to glory. Dez: Wow that is such a Skip example. Anyway in the story I talked about how Chavez and his partners or co-conspirators were not allowed back into the military after they were released from prison. Skip: Moving on, I have the expression to be true to your word, which means to make a promise and stick to it, something many politicians seem to nd hard to do. In the story Dez said that Chavez was true to his word when he acted on the promises that he had made to the poor before being elected. Dez: Theres been a lot of criticism of President Obama, especially in his rst term when some people felt that he promised he would bring hope and change to America, but wasnt true to his word and didnt really deliver either of those. Skip: I think he found out how difcult it was to get things done in Washington. p.3 of 4 www.downtobusinessenglish.com [email protected] 063 -Hugo Chavez Dez: Probably. Next I have another word with a prex the noun mismanagement. This is a fairly easy one to gure out, management is organization and mis means to make a mistake, so mismanagement means to organize something badly. Skip: You mean like those years when you were in charge of one of the departments in the college where we worked? Dez: Yes, t hat i s a very good exampl e of mismanagement, but I would rather not expand on that experience. Skip: I was there so I can understand why. Dez: Anyway, in todays story I discussed the mismanagement of the Venezuelan oil industry by Chavez and the people he appointed to work in the state oil company. Skip: And a further example would be how the board mismanaged Apple while Steve Jobs was away until he returned and ... Dez: Yes, thanks Skip, thanks. I think we all know how that sentence nishes. Skip: Oh, Im sorry. Our nal word today is the political term referendum, which means when the government asks the people to vote on a big decision rather than deciding it themselves. In the story Dez talked about the referendum that Chavez held to allow him to stay in ofce. In other words he got the people to change the law for him. Dez: And here is an example which is NOT related to Apple, and that would be the referendum that is going to happen in 2014, where the Scots will vote on whether they want to be a separate country from the UK. Skip: Really? I didnt know about that. Do you think Scotland will vote for independence? Dez: I dont know but I guess if they feel its to their advantage they will. Skip: That is why they are having a referendum, no doubt. Dez: Sure is. And thats about all we have for vocabulary today. Would you like to support the show? Be sure to subscribe to Down to Business English through iTunes. While you are there, be sure to leave a comment and rate the show. This will help Down to Business English reach more people wanting to improve their English skills. You can follow Skip on Twitter at twitter.com/ skipmontreux and Dez at twitter.com/dezmorgan Want to get Down to Business even more? Sign up for the D2B English newsletter to receive updates from Skip & Dez on some of the stories covered on Down to Business English. Business News to improve your Business English. Skip: Thanks for todays story Dez. I certainly learned a few things about Venezuela and Hugo Chavez that I previously didnt know. Dez: My pleasure Skip. And I hope everyone listening found it benecial as well. Take care everyone see you next time. Skip: Bye everyone. Dez: Bye. p.4 of 4 www.downtobusinessenglish.com [email protected] 063 -Hugo Chavez