Chavez popularity divebombs as Venezuelan Economy Sinks

It couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

Venezuela's economy is suffering a deepening recession at a time when the rest of the world's economies are picking up steam, according to data released Tuesday by the country's central bank. That is bad news for the country's populist leader Hugo Chávez. A decline in oil prices from their record levels in July 2008 has forced Mr. Chávez to rein in public spending this year. Consumers also have tightened their belts, with imports falling 29% in the third quarter compared with the year-earlier period. Retail sales slipped 11.5%. Businesses, under siege from the government's drive to socialism, appear in no mood to pick up the slack. Private-sector economic activity dropped 5.8% in the third quarter, the central bank reported, while manufacturing activity slid 9.2% from the year-earlier period. Complicating matters for the government, inflation remains stubbornly high, at nearly 30% for the past 12 months. Higher prices are expected to erode the purchasing power of ordinary Venezuelans by about 6% this year, according to Caracas-based research firm Ecoanalitica. The firm said the recession also means that companies are likely to freeze salaries next year, and that real incomes could fall as much as 10% in 2010.

Unfortunatley as long as he throws some crumbs to the poor who depend on him to take care of them, he is not getting kicked out anytime soon.