Thursday 3 January 2008

Venezuala: Think British Leyland

After reading much blather about the mess that Hugo is making of Venezuela, it suddenly hit me today: his Bolivarian Revolution is going to turn the private sector into a big fat series of British Leylands (as in the company, not the cars).

Todays yoof who worship Chavez of course have no memory of the disaster that was BL. I have driven or sat in a number of their products - rusting, unreliable Triumphs (Stags and Dolomites); leaky Rover SD1's that leaked oil through the roof and oil through the sump and went nowhere as a result; P76's with bits falling off them and of course the truly awful TR7.

He's compounding it by throwing Army officers into management positions. Given that most South American militaries make Colonel Blimp look efficient and level headed, the combination of British Leyland-style socialism and military ineptitude will probably reduce the country to a Zimbabwe type economy in about 5 years time.

I suggest that anyone that thinks that Hugo Chavez is a great guy should be forced to drive an early 1970's XJ-6 for a month.

They'll be dead of frustration or an electrical short within a fortnight.

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