VHeadline commentarist Arthur Shaw writes: "Venezuela's accumulated inflation during the first six months of this year was 10.8%, a significant decrease from the 15.1% accumulated inflation during the first six months of last year, according to Venezuela's National Statistics Institute (INE) and the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV)," wrote James Suggett on July 8,2009 for a progressive news outlet.

This is a 31% drop in the rate of inflation for the first half of 2009 compared to the first half of 2008. The success in fighting inflation, so far this year, is stunning. Clearly, the Venezuelan bourgeoisie, which collaborates with US imperialists to fuel inflation chiefly by means of the illegal foreign exchange market, can take none of the credit for this success. The revolutionary and patriotic core of the Venezuelan working class deserves most of the credit for this success.

The propaganda of the bourgeois media against the revolution incessantly points to high rates of inflation in Venezuela as one of the top and dramatic failures of the revolutionaries in power. Of course, at 10.8%, the rate of inflation is still high, but the direction and pace of positive change in the inflation rate couldn't be better.

"Accumulated inflation in food prices was 4.5% during the first half of the year. This is significantly lower than the 19.3% accumulated inflation in food prices during the first half of 2008. Meanwhile, health care and transportation costs have inflated slightly more in the first half of this year than they did in the first half of 2008," James Suggett wrote.

The plunge in the inflation rate for food from 19.3% during the first half of 2008 to only 4.5% during the first half of 2009 will dramatically improve and extend the consumption of the working class and its class allies.

How was this splendid success, relative to food, accomplished?

Was it by an increase in domestic food production?

Or was it by enforcement of anti-hoarding and anti-speculative measures against the Venezuelan bourgeoisie and US imperialists in the food industry?

Or was this big success accomplished by the substitution of food imports denominated in local currencies for food imports denominated in US dollars?

Or was it a mix of all of these as well as other measures?

Whatever produced this positive change in food prices, the revolutionaries in power should keep doing it at least until they get the inflation rate for food down to less than 1%.

No doubt, the Venezuelan bourgeoisie and US imperialists are outraged and enraged by the success of revolutionaries in fighting inflation in the food industry because this particular success in the battle against inflation has clearer political and electoral implications than similar successes in industries other than food.

"Accumulated inflation in the first half of the year was greatest in the city of Merida, with 13.1%, topping Caracas' 12.4%. The city with the lowest accumulated inflation in the first half of this year was Barquisimeto with 10.2%," James Suggett wrote.