Hugo Chavez, PC Magnate?

Hugo Chavez, everybody’s favorite completely insane South American dictator, is unveiling a line of PCs.

That’s right, the Venezuelan president best known for predicting the downfall of the “United States empire” and its president, whom he calls, simply, “the devil,” a man who actually said “capitalism leads us straight to hell,” is now following in the footsteps of Michael Dell and Steve Jobs.The Bolivarian Computer program, named after Chavez’s idol, Simon Bolivar, will sell PCs ranging in price from $405 to $1,400 for various government initiatives, and eventually for sale to the public. The Linux-based laptop and desktop systems will be built in Venezuela with the help of Inspur Group, a firm based in Hong Kong.

My favorite thing about the Ars report, though, is this straight-up quote from Chavez, talking like any sales and marketing director might:

“The price of other similar brands is $930, and the price of our computer is $690, almost 40 percent less,” says Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, describing one particular model. “But, in addition, it has an added value, given that it comes with open-source software and a three year guarantee, while other brands only offer one year.”

I’m sorry, but that is just freaky. – Wilson Rothman

Venezuelan government to sell Linux-based computers [Ars Technica]