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'Bourgeois' Golf Courses Tee Off Chávez
Venezuela shutting down the links—that happen to be near oil
By Jason Farago
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Posted Aug 13, 09 9:20 AM CDT
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(Newser)
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Hugo Chávez has gone after oil conglomerates and media companies, and now he's hitting the capitalist pigs where it hurts: at the golf course. The Venezuelan president is trying to shut down the country's best-known courses, which he believes are part of an anti-Marxist conspiracy, the Independent reports. "Let's leave this clear," he said on his long-running personal TV show, "golf is a bourgeois sport."
Since the campaign began, nine golf courses have been closed, and two more near Caracas are threatened. Perhaps it's not coincidental that the courses mostly lie in oil-producing regions, though Chávez insists his motivation is pure. "I respect all sports," the president said. "But do you mean to tell me this is a people's sport? It is not."