Chavez targets alcohol, smoking

By The Associated Press

Published: June 12, 2010

CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez says he wants Venezuelans to stop drinking so much alcohol, and he has ordered the military to crack down on businesses selling beer on the streets or after legal hours.

Chavez said his government is considering raising taxes on alcohol and cigarettes. Venezuelans' taste for beer and Scotch whisky is an irritation to the leftist president, and he raised liquor and cigarette taxes three years ago while calling for similar measures — to little effect.

Some Venezuelans took issue with the president and repeated a lighthearted message on Twitter echoing Chavez's calls of "Socialist fatherland or death” but instead proclaiming: "booze, alcoholism, or death — we will drink.”