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Cesar Chavez influence
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This dissertation closely examines the impact and significance of Hugo Chavez’s legacy on the Venezuelan population and the neighboring nations during his reign. The essay evaluates the rigid and infamous public relations Chavez had with other superpowers around the world, but more precisely the United States of America. The dissertation focuses on how the former leader reached his position of power under an unconventional Venezuelan government that was heavily contaminated with corruption. Furthermore, the dissertation will discuss some of Chavez’s achievements after his emergence through the failed Coup of 1994 and eventually his victory in the democratic election of 1998. Accomplishments such as the reform of the healthcare sector, the development of Venezuela’s sustainable economy over his tenure, and most importantly Chavez’s avid support for a higher quality educational system for his people. Lastly, I will debate on the possible scenarios for Venezuela’s future under the leadership of newly elected Nicolas Maduro.
The United States has had a long history of violence and political tension with Venezuela citing as early as the 1900’s with the Venezuela crisis of 1902-03. But with time and new political philosophies from both nations, these rigid tensions faded away slowly but surely to accommodate for the contemporary needs of both nations. The United States and Venezuelan leaders eventually decided to work together in order to eliminate the illegal drug trafficking which has plagued the Latin American continent for decades under the tenure of President Rafael Caldera. But this time of prosperity wore out soon after Hugo Chavez won the 1999 election in a democratic manner. Despite the overwhelming suppor...
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...uela’s Mission Robinson Literacy Program at 9 Years." venezuelanalysis.com. N.p., 29 Oct 2012. Web. 15 Dec 2013. .
Sirr, Rebecca T. "Misión Barrio Adentro: Experiencing Health Care as a Human Right in Venezuela ." upsidedownworld.org. N.p., 24 May 2007. Web. 15 Dec 2013. .
"Venezuelan Government’s Mission Mercal Celebrates 9th Anniversary." venezuelanalysis.com. Correo del Orinoco International , 27 Apr 2012. Web. 15 Dec 2013. .
Weisbrot, Mark. "The United States Shows its Contempt for Venezuelan Democracy." Portside.com. The Guardian, 22 Apr 2013. Web. 15 Dec 2013. .
Bolivar illustrates the relationship between the Spanish American colonies and Spain. The relationship could be described as bitter, at least in the eyes of the Spanish colonies. Inferiority led the Spanish colonies to the ideas of revolution. Although their rights come from the Europeans, they do not acknowledge themselves as Europeans or Indians. The people of the Spanish colonies claim to be, according to Bolivar, “[…] a species midway between the legitimate proprietors of [America] and the Spanish usurper” (411). “Usurpers” meaning a position that is held by forces which entails an unwanted or uninvited relationship. It is because of the Europeans, as stated by Bolivar, that “we have to assert [European] rights against the rights of the natives, and at the same time we must defend ourselves against invaders [which] places us in a most extraordinary and involved situation” (411). This is also evidence of a bitter rela...
During his lifetime Bolivar has achieved many great accomplishments. One of these is the sole liberation of the South American Continent, giving him the revered nickname “El Libertador” or “The Liberator”.
White, Robert E. 2013. "After Chávez, a Chance to Rethink Relations With Cuba". The New
Throughout the Cold War the United States considered the installation in Latin America of radical regimes-socialist, Marxist-Leninist, or “leftist” in any way- to be utterly intolerable. Any such development would represent an advance for the communist cause and a vital loss for the West. Acceptance of this outcome could weaken the credibility of the United States as the leader of the west and as a rival for the USSR. In the eyes of Cold Warriors, the consolidation of any left-wing regime in the Western Hemisphere would have dire and perilous implications for U.S. national security and for the global distribution of power. It was therefore crucial to resist this possibility by any means necessary in countries such as Grenada, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.
Hugo Chavez was the president of Venezuela from 1999 to 2013. He had an interesting way of running the country during his presidency. His political position or ideology could be best defined as Bolivarianism for many reasons. Bolivarianism can be described as a set of doctrines that was popular in South America. It is named after the famous liberator Simon Bolivar. Hugo Chavez’s ideology involved ideas from others he had come to admire. Of course one of those that he admired was Simon Bolivar. The ideas for his ideology all began at a young age when he fell in love with history (Jones 23). During this age Hugo Chavez would often times read about a general named Ezequiel Zamora whom his great great grandfather had served (Marcano, Tyszka 11). Ezequiel Zamora will become a major influence in his ideology later on in his life. Besides Zamora, Chavez would also read about many other theorists. Hugo Chavez not only lived in poverty but also witnessed how bad the poverty around him was (Jones 25-26). Chavez did not like this poverty and wanted to change that any way he could. As he grew up he continued reading about the different theorists and ideologies that they made up (Jones 40). So since a young age Chavez had always been a leftist. As mentioned earlier it continued throughout his life and it intensified during his days at the military academy (Wilpert 07) Eventually Chavez became the president and his political position progressed further left (Wilpert 07). In other words he rejected both far left ideologies such as communism or Marxism-Leninism and moderate ideologies such as social democracy or the third way. However Chavez was aware of these different ideologies but did not consider being part of it. Hugo Chavez instead began t...
As unemployment and inflation strengthened poverty throughout the country, especially in the rural outskirts, in the city a new political movement, threatening the long established oligarch-military complex began to develop. When the radio began to announce that opposition’s, PDC candidate, Duarte was sweeping up votes, the radio was cut and when the transmission, the army government’s choice, Molina, was ahead. The blatant fraud encouraged liberal junior and jealous senior officers to stage a coup, attempting to place Duarte in power. After receiving help from forces in the Central American Defense Council (CONDECA), the which was formed in 1963 under the influence the United States to protect Cental America against “possible communist aggression,” and US military advisors, the senior military command put down the coup attempt. (___) The United States
... was not the best person on Earth, nor was he the worst person as portrayed in the news. The same type of repetition and emphasizing could have been done to portray Hugo Chavez as the greatest leader in the world. If Hugo Chavez actions and objectives were more publicize, then his representation in the media would not have been a evil dictator who is against the U.S, rather it would be man who wanted to help the poor and tried to find peace within nations. Stone states that “the changes that occurred in Venezuela reflect the true spirit of the country’s people. Venezuela was ranked 7.6 on a scale of 1 to 10, in the level of democracy. They placed their democracy higher than any other Latin American.” Stone, Scott, Boykoff, Sheehan, and Dwyer represent Hugo Chavez as a victim of media corruption, but a fighter for still succeeding while being targeted.
All throughout the 20th century we can observe the marked presence of totalitarian regimes and governments in Latin America. Countries like Cuba, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic all suffered under the merciless rule of dictators and military leaders. Yet the latter country, the Dominican Republic, experienced a unique variation of these popular dictatorships, one that in the eyes of the world of those times was great, but in the eyes of the Dominicans, was nothing short of deadly.
Filmmaker Oliver Stone embarked on a journey across the Latin American continent pursuant to the filling of gaps left by mainstream media about the social and political movements in the southern continent. Through a series of interviews he conducted with Presidents Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, Cristina Kirchner and former president Nėstor Kirchner of Argentina, Evo Morales of Bolivia, Fernando Lugo of Paraguay, Lula da Silva of Brazil, Rafael Correa of Ecuador and Raúl Castro of Cuba, Stone was able to compare firsthand information from the leaders themselves with that reported and published by the media (“Synopsis,” n.d.). It gives light to the measures these leaders had to take in order to initiate change in their respective countries, even if their public identities were at stake. Several instances in the film showed the mismatch between these two sources, pointing at the US government’s interests for greatly influencing the media for presenting biased, groundless views.
The Cuba Reader: History, Culture, Politics (The Latin America Readers) by Aviva Chomsky, Barry Carr and Pamela Maria Smorkaloff (Feb 4, 2004)
In the wake of WWII, the western world was in a state of perpetual fear. After seeing Marxist influence make a shocking impact wherever it landed, the rise of the Soviet Union, the 26rd of July movement in Cuba, and numerous other revolutions with the goal of radical social and political reforms, the world was divided by two mutually exclusive and hostile ideologies: capitalism and Marxism. The two major superpowers of the time, the U.S.A. and the Soviet Union were at opposite ends of the spectrum. The Marxist revolutions of Europe and Russia gave inspiration to many Latin American revolutionaries. The U.S. wanted to ensure that communism and leftist regimes did not spread, particularly in Latin America, where leftist regimes would especially threaten U.S. business interest. The U.S. for over a century had been imperializing Latin America under a series of façades and in the mid-20th century, McCarthyism became the new catch-all excuse to interfere with the affairs of a sovereign nation. Under the guise of containing the spread of communism, many Latin American governments that tried to deviate from the practice of serving U.S. interest were overthrown with the funding and instruction of the U.S. It was with the watchful and accusing eye of Uncle Sam looming over Latin America that in 1970, that Unidad Popular candidate, Salvador Allende, was democratically elected President of Chile. Even before Allende assumed the presidency, oppositional forces were conspiring to destroy him, everything he was to accomplish, and the pro-working class ideology that he represented. The events that occurred in the three years that his presidency endured and which lead to the coup d’état of Pinochet were the product of U.S. hostility towards any t...
Carlos Alberto Montaner makes several core points as to why social unrest and the rise of the left in Latin America will be the demise of Latin America. He starts his argument by naming leaders of the leftist movement in several Latin American countries. He then, goes on to say that in these leftists’ governments, parliaments are discredited, political prestige has lost its value, and the judicial branch and police are unjust and corrupt.
Hugo Chavez was a powerful and positive force in addressing social issues, however, his singular focus on social issues at the expense of other matters of the country left the Venezuelan economy in tatters. In 1998, 50.4% of the Venezuelan population was living below the poverty line, where as in 2006 the numbers dropped to 36.3% (Chavez leaves). Although he aggressively confronted the issue of poverty in Venezuela, many other problems were worsened. Some Chavez critics say he used the state oil company like a piggy bank for projects: funding homes, and healthcare while neglecting oil infrastructure and production. Without growth in the oil ind...
This dark brooding story covers the last 7 month of Simon Bolivar’s life. South American Liberator has spent many years in opposition to Spanish presence, he swept the Spaniards from their former colonie...
Bolivia’s long history of political instability greatly impedes the country’s growth, and although still technically being a democracy it is quickly becoming a socialist dictatorship. Conversely, Bolivia’s large supply of natural gas could lead to it becoming a wealthier and more stable democracy. Regardless, if the Untied States wishes to maintain diplomatic connections with Bolivia in its current political state, America will need to act as an unobtrusive presence to keep already strained relations intact.