Hugo Chavez?

Hugo Chavez is so detested in America because he doesn’t pay obeisance to the American ego (already I demonstrate my American ego by naming the United States – America. Some Latino friends of mine would correct me by saying they too are Americans, inasmuch as they originated in the Americas). Any time someone gives the United States a derogatory gesture, the American public immediately feels derision and contempt. One need only live on foreign soil to see that the United States does the same on a regular basis to every other nation on the planet.

Hugo Chavez has a spotted history. He’s a revolutionary, politician and a socialist, all dirty words to the American public. He makes friends with “The Axis of Evil” and regularly snubs his nose at American hegemony. The classic is when he offered cheap oil to the New England states when there was a terrible cold snap and oil was expensive and in short supply, this only shortly before he called George W. Bush “The Devil” in a speech before the U.N. General Assembly. Nicely done, Hugo (said in sarcasm).

Chavez, however, has done a great many things in Venezuela that G. W. B. has only mocked in the United States. Chavez grew up in poverty. His parents were teachers and he came to prominence through military service. He coordinated and led a failed rebellion in 1992 against a corrupt and cleptocratic government which landed him in jail. Shortly afterward he was pardoned by the newly established president (the one he tried to overthrow was impeached shortly after his failed coup). He ran for president and won in 1998 and became president of Venezuela on Feb 2, 1999.

Nepotism, on the other hand, is George W. Bush’s calling card. He was born to privilege, likely never earned a thing in his life, took full advantage of his nepotitious circumstances by going to the finest schools money can buy, nepotizing his way into the oil business and doing the same in politics, riding his father’s coat tails all the way to the White House (nepotism seems to be the status quo in Washington…Kennedy).

Chavez, a socialist, developed and implemented relatively successful programs to educate the poor and illiterate, built modern and suitable housing for many of the poorest Venezuelans, built medical clinics for the poor by the hundreds, and made available to the poor vaccinations previously unavailable. Since 2003 the economy has grown tremendously to the benefit of those impoverished masses. George Bush would much prefer to line the pockets of his big oil buddies and give tax breaks to the rich than to heed the ever worsening plight of the poor.

Chavez, of course, is no angel but is someone to watch in the sphere of international politics. I read in December, 2006, how he intends to fully nationalize the oil industry (much to the chagrin of Conoco/Phillips and other American oil giants) as well as the utility services in Venezuela. In 2001, he was granted “Rule by Decree” by the national assembly and again in early 2007 (for a period of 18 months). He is also aiming at eliminating presidential term limits, shutting down opposition media, and establishing communal councils. Although Americans shouldn’t get overly emotional about Chavez’s critical outbursts and his blatant disregard for American hegemony, there is legitimate concern that Venezuela may be on a dangerous road toward totalitarianism.