Comparing Hugo Chavez’s accomplishments to his U.S. obits was like taking a trip through Alice’s looking glass. Virtually none of the information about poverty and illiteracy was included, and when it was grudgingly admitted that he did have programs for the poor, it was “balanced” with claims of soaring debts, widespread shortages, rampant crime, economic chaos, and “authoritarianism.”
Hugo Chavez put an end to the reign of neoliberal IMF policies that had impoverished the masses of Latin America and inaugurated a new order of resource nationalism and income redistribution that favored the poor and the marginalized.
I had the privilege of traveling to Venezuela and witnessing the country’s presidential Oct. 7 elections and the South American country’s extraordinarily active and engaged citizenry. An impressive 81 percent of the electorate participated in a transparent and secure electoral process that former president Jimmy Carter recently referred to as the best in the world.
Foreign Policy magazine publishes fear-mongering accusations that Venezuela is becoming a narco-state.
As per tradition in Latin American politics, election season means vicious personal attacks against individuals running for office. In Peru, the 2011 campaign season saw Ollanta Humala of the Peruvian Nationalist Party attacked for his friendship with Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez, as well as for the legacy of his brother Antauro, currently in prison for leading a failed uprising in January 2005 that left several police officers dead in the Andean town of Andahuaylas.
In spite of Venezuela’s President Chavez’s illness, the lack of an obvious successor, along with his support among the poor, make him a formidable opponent in 2012.
Executive power in Venezuela has been so -centric that it’s anybody’s guess who would replace him were he unable to govern.
In the wake of Obama’s recent tour of Latin America, media reports and commentators claimed that China has been economically outmuscling the United States in the region. The reality, however, is that Beijing’s economic presence has not come at the expense of the United States. Although Washington still maintains an overwhelming edge, its influence is decreasing. This decline will be exacerbated by Obama’s focus on boosting U.S. exports to the region rather than importing more of Latin America’s manufactured goods.
Without technology and know-how, even the world’s largest oil reserves are worthless.
Venezuela tests the fast-food waters. Expansion to U.S. unlikely though because it’s subsidized by the government.