Venezuela Has Oil Money, And Chavez Sings His Tune

[cal04]

Standing before a battery of television cameras, President Hugo Chavez confronted the impulse to break into song and -- as often happens in such moments -- surrendered without a fight. " Guantanamera ," he sang in confident baritone, swaying slightly to the refrain of Cuba's most celebrated tune. " Guajira Guantanamera . . . ." Chavez was in the middle of his weekly six-hour television program, "Hello, President," which during 228 episodes has provided exhaustive insight into the man who rivals Fidel Castro as Latin America's most charismatic and controversial leader.

The Cuban love song was a fitting soundtrack for a recent episode, in which Chavez repeatedly thanked Castro for inspiring him to accelerate the redistribution of wealth in a nation where about half the people live in poverty. Riding on a tide of record prices for Venezuelan oil, Chavez -- who has survived both a brief coup and a recall referendum -- now appears to be consolidating public support, using the economic windfall to expand social programs for the poor and to intensify what he calls a "peaceful revolution" against global capitalism.

Chavez's political relations with the United States remain as rocky as ever, and he has repeatedly asserted that the CIA is plotting to overthrow him. Domestic opponents, meanwhile, charge that his new social largess is accompanied by heavy-handed attempts to take control of the country's institutions and stifle dissent -- all in an effort to hold on to power as tightly as his hero in Havana has done for 46 years.


While critics at home and abroad warn of his increasingly dictatorial tendencies, Chavez enjoys broad support among the poor and popularity ratings exceeding 60 percent. When fans watch him on television, they don't see a power-hungry demagogue, but a defiant ally who sings when he feels like it and doesn't care if detractors say they've heard the tune somewhere before. "They talk about human rights abuses, they say that Chavez is a tyrant and a dictator," Chavez said during his show. "They are lies, all lies."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/14/AR2005071402133.html

[bemildred]

1. Babble, but less vitriolic than in the past ... nt

[Lydia Leftcoast]

2. Having just read Confessions of an Economic Hit Man,

I can see Chavez as the most recent in a long line of Latin American leaders who have tried to do what's right for their people only to be thwarted (or even assassinated) by the CIA or other undercover representatives of U.S. business interests.

Judging from what happened to people like Omar Torrijos, I urge President Chavez to stay out of small planes and helicopters, especially if a "trusted" security guard urges him to switch planes.

[classysassy]

3. Ptresident Chavez

if Oliver North visits your country double your security.

[newyawker99]

4. Hi classysassy!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[K-W]

5. Hello President! EOM