Chavez Urges Workers – Avoid English Words

It seems like state phone company workers in Venezuela are using some English phrases and Hugo Chavez doesn’t like it. From the AP.

President Hugo Chavez’s government is taking its battle against U.S. “imperialism” into Venezuelans’ dictionaries, urging state phone company workers to avoid English-language business and tech terms.

Through a campaign launched Monday, newly nationalized CANTV hopes to wean employees and others from words like “staff” (“equipo” is preferred), “marketing” (“mercadeo”) and “password” (“contrasena”).

Stickers and banners printed up by the company exhort Venezuelans to “Say it in Spanish. Say it with pride.”

Yeah, try being the owner of a cheesesteak shop in Philadelphia and asking people to order in English and see what happens.