Ah Venezuela, glorious Socialist motherland whose proud people stand in line for milk and use apps to search for toilet paper and whose glorious nationalized companies are producing about as well as you expect.
The steelmaking company at the core of the Ciudad Guayana project, Sidor, produced a record 4.3 million tons before it was nationalized by Chávez in 2008.
Today, most of its furnaces sit cold, deprived of raw materials, new technology and reliable labor.
Because… Socialism. The unions have some perfectly reasonable demands.
Maduro officials say their proposed Sidor contract is generous, with salary increases that will more than double workers’ compensation over the next two years. It accommodates some rather extraordinary union demands: perks such as auto insurance for workers’ personal vehicles and millions of dollars to buy holiday gifts for their children, with special union committees to pick out the video games, dolls and stuffed animals they want.
Why aren’t they signing a contract? Because they’re getting paid anyway.
Despite repeated strikes and work stoppages, the government has continued to pay salaries at the aging plant, including for more than 2,000 union officials who draw wages but don’t produce an ounce of steel.
Still, with annual inflation in Venezuela topping 60 percent, steelworkers say their quality of life has plummeted. They lay the blame on government corruption and mismanagement by know-nothing military officials whom Maduro has placed atop state companies to ensure loyalty.
While there isn’t much steel coming out, both sides are denouncing each other as puppets of Western imperialism.
“They want to impose this contract on us to defeat our union and clear the way for their neo-liberal adjustment plans,” said Mario Valor, a union delegate, accusing the government of attempting to divide and conquer Venezuela’s workers in preparation for austerity measures.
National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello — Venezuela’s second most powerful figure after Maduro — has denounced union adversaries at Sidor as “mafias” in the service of U.S. “imperialism,” offending many of the workers who consider themselves Chávez loyalists and true patriots.
Maybe Chavez can return to Maduro in bird form and guide him through this mess. Or he can just let China take over.





















