Hugo Chavez, Communist President of Venezuela, asked the country for him to stand indefinitely for re-election. Such a question caused uproar through out the nation and now it is split into two parties, pro-Chavez and anti- Chavez. “Hugo Chavez is a Venezuelan soldier-turned-politician who harnessed soaring oil revenues and simmering class resentments to make himself the hub of anti-American sentiment in Latin America.” Mainly the people are in support of not letting Chavez rule the country with total power and are not allowing him to run with out opposition in the upcoming elections. What President Chavez was preparing to do was turn Venezuela into a dictatorship equivalent to the government that Fidel has set up in Cuba. “Not a single poor person we talked to, no matter how much love they expressed for Chavez, said they wanted Venezuela to turn into Cuba. But that is the direction the country is headed.” The people were not in support of his new idea and he has now lost approval within the country. Chavez’ astonishing proposal has truly revealed his true intentions and for this reason I believe he should be removed from office. “This admirer of Fidel Castro’s Cuba and avowed anti-globalist was pushed from office on 12 April - as a result of his attempts to take control of the world’s fifth-biggest oil industry.” His ideas coincide too much with the thoughts of Castro and he could be following in his footsteps, down the same path. I think Hugo Chavez needs to be stripped of his position in office and should not be allowed to apply for any government role within the aspiring nation.

Chavez calls the United States the world’s greatest menace and says he simply wishes to be left alone to do his work. But there is a growing fear that Chavez is preparing to export his Bolivarian revolution to his neighbors. Why else would he need 100,000 recently purchased Russian AK-47s? Why announce plans to increase the size of the army reserves from 50,000 to 1.5 million? Why the ties to guerrilla movements?

The United States does not agree with the balance of power within Venezuela and wants a change within the government. What the U.S. wants from Venezuela is to be democratic; to be an ally, but the longer Chávez stays in power, the farther they will be pushed away. It is important for Venezuela to step away from communist leaders like their current President and to accept a new form of government, preferably democratic or at least some form of free elections. This is good news for the rest of the world because of the fact that Chávez has been set back for the first time, he has finally seen some sort of defeat. If Chávez’ reign continues, then hope will be lost for Venezuela to ever step forward and be an independent, democratic nation.

“Hugo Chavez.” BBC News. 5 Dec 2002. 3 Apr 2008.

“Huge Chavez vs. America.” CBN News. 3 Apr 2008.

“Hugo Chavez.” New York Times. 3 Dec 2007. 3 Apr 2008.