Let the Name Calling Commence
In an article from the London Sunday Times--a Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper--there is an interview with Hugo Chavez' ex-mistress. It is called "My lover, the great dictator".This sensational interview conveniently comes just days after Chavez and Bolivia's new president, Evo Morales, faced down the European Union.
While the word dictator has been bandied about rather loosely by our own Bush Administration in regards to Mr. Chavez, it is interesting to note that whenever Chavez is written about, it seems to be impossible to write objectively about the man. For instance, this is the first paragraph of this article.
"The ex-mistress of Venezuela’s leader, darling of Britain’s left, predicts an autocratic disaster, reports Tony Allen-Mills"Using the phrase "darling of Britain's left" is apparentliy supposed to marginalize Chavez, but I think there are many more people behind Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution than just a few fringe lefties.
As for this woman's predicted dictatorship in Venezuela, let's examine political philosophies a bit.
Indoctrinated in this country to be great believers in democracy as a the best of all political systems, we have witnessed in the last six years the blatant subversion of what is left of OUR democracy with a bought and intimidated media, corrupt and just-plain-wacked politicians and worst-of-all, a manipulated and dull-witted electorate more upset by gays and illegal immigrants than the ruthless redistribution of wealth upward by Republicans and their ilk.
As the United States spirals closer to the kind of banana republic that has generally defined Central and South American nations, I find it a hopeful sign that the endemic poverty of this area is being addressed--in Venezuela at least--by this so-called "dictator".
Few South American elections can be called fair in that region's long history. Certainly the doubts that I now harbor over the democratic process can be easily understood in South American terms. Chavez understands as well as anyone that the direction of a nation can be turned 180 degrees in one election.
For my part, I'm willing to see how the majority of the people fare under Chavez before condemning his mission to raise his people up from a poverty that has never abated regardless of who was elected in the past.
If I can listen every single day to apologists for the Bush Administration downplay and rationalize the evils done by this Administration, then I don't mind in the least being called an apologist for this kind of "benevolent dictator".
posted by mauiloa @ 10:44 PM
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