Hugo Chavez
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.
In Venezuela, a new leader has emerged as a result of a 51 to 49 percent vote (Caracas). The people of Venezuela have reacted to this vote in varying degrees of happiness and sadness, depending mainly on what social class they are a part of (Weisbrot). Chavez’s removal from office through democratic means is a success for democracy and a final blow to totalitarian socialism.
Chavez was helpful to certain groups of people while in office, offering housing to the lower class. He was once part of this class and thus knows what it is like to be in their place. “Chavez has redistributed more oil wealth than past Venezuelan leaders”, taking from the rich and giving to the poor, a welcome development to many of the people (Caracas). Chavez also has supplied the people with “tens of thousands of… new government-provided homes”, but continued to limit the freedom of all, especially the wealthy (Caracas, Wagner).
The government’s economy has benefited greatly from the increased demand for oil, and Chavez has made use of this money “to finance a host of social programs in Venezuela” for the populace (Wagner). Chavez began to crave more government control over the industries that brought in the most revenue to the country, and ordered a negation of new business contracts. These contracts would “give the government more control over their businesses” (Wagner). At this point, the people and companies involved (Conoco Philips and Exxon) in the Venezuelan oil industry began to fear overbearing nationalism and pulled out of the country (Wagner).
Chavez’s socialist rule continues with an replacement of “the broadcasting license of that nation’s largest private television station” with a state run channel (Wagner). The limitations on television stations, if not controlled with an end to Chavez’s reign, would have snowballed to extensive limitations of free press. Chavez needed to stop restricting the people and helping only those lower on the social ladder in order to promote a more democratic society.
Chavez, before his defeat, attempted to gain unchecked power and limited the freedoms of the people. His “profound and intense” proposal would allow Chavez to rule for life, a direction the people, even those who reaped the benefits of his leadership, were wary of (Caracas). The citizens of Venezuela are fighting hard to keep their country democratic, and the removal of Chavez is direction to take to end totalitarian socialism.
Caracas. “Venezuela Rejects Chavez’s Power Play”. CBS News. 3 Dec 2008. CBSNews.com. 9 April 2008. .
Wagner, Brian. “Tens of Thousands Protest Venezuela TV Closing”. Voice of America. 26 May 2007. Voanews.com. 9 April 2008. .
Weisbrot, Mark. “Progressive Change in Venezuela and Latin America”. Third World Traveler. 8 December 2007. Thirdworldtraveler.com. 9 April 2008. .