Venezuela is a country located on the northern coast of South America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, Brazil and Colombia. Venezuela is a country full of beauties and contrasts where people can find beautiful beaches, plains, mountains, and even the majestic highest waterfall of the world (Angel Falls). Also, oil rich nation, one of the upper 10 exporting countries worldwide. During more than four decades, this country lived in full democracy until 1999, when a former military officer, who was involved in a military coup years ago, Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias won the presidential elections, and who remained in the government until he died in 2013 from cancer.
Hugo Chavez's political discourse based on the Marxist thoughts soon was creating "The Bolivarian Revolution", and since its beginning offered the XXI century socialism, which one was never described specifically to people. As a result, with the passing of the years Chavez created an atmosphere of division, violence and unrest within the population. Thus, Created a marked difference between the supporters and opponents of his policies, a situation that President Hugo Chavez took in advantages for his own purposes, deploy a communist regime disguised as a socialist. In other words, Chavez tricked Venezuela’s people, offering the establishment of a socialism that was nothing more than a dictatorship adapted to their own purposes, become the most recognized leader of the left in worldwide.
Throughout the fourteen years that remained in power Chávez followed strategy of introducing a socialist government in Venezuela in stages. According to Enrique Standish in the article titled “Venezuela Finally Turns Communist” it happened in four stages. The first stage consisted of obtaining t...
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Works Cited
1. Enrique Standish. “Venezuela Finally Turns Communist”.PANAM.Post. Nov.29.2013.Web.3.Apr.2014.http://panampost.com/enriquestandish/2013/11/29/venezuela-communist-finally/
2. Diego Ore and Brian Ellsworth. “Venezuela protest death toll rises to 33”. Reuter. Mar.22.2014. Web.4.Apr.2014. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/22
3. Marx, "Critique of the Gotha Program," Selected Writings II (Moscow, 1951), p. 21
4. Steve H. Hanke. “Venezuela’s Playbook: The communist Manifesto”. Cato Institute. Jan.2014. Web.Apr.2.2014.http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/venezuelas-playbook-communist-manifesto
5. John Peeler.” Understanding the Protest in Venezuela”. The New York Times.Apr.2. 2014. Web.Apr.7.2014.http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/03/opinion/understanding-the-protests-in-venezuela.html
Chavez was a major leader in the Chicano movement that all started when he was nineteen years-old when he joined the NFLU (National Farm Labor Union). From then, he moved on to the CFO, where he moved up in rank quite easily which he eventually quit. After his nine year stint with the CFO, he then founded the union of t...
Chávez’s leadership was based on an unshakable commitment to nonviolence, personal sacrifice and a strict work ethic. He emphasized the necessity of adhering to nonviolence, even when faced with violence from employers and growers, because he knew if the strikers used violence to further their goals, the growers and police would not hesitate to respond with even greater vehemence. Despite his commitment to nonviolence, many of the movement’s ‘enemies’, so to speak, made efforts to paint the mo...
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Faria, Hugo J. 2008. "Hugo Chávez against the Backdrop of Venezuelan Economic and Political History." Independent Review 12, no. 4: 519-535. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed December 2, 2013).
By the early 1960’s widespread concern for social and economic justice and increased levels of political participation had boosted the popularity of parties that advocated radical economic and social change. Thus, in 1964, Eduardo Frei, a Christian Democrat, won an overwhelming mandate to carry out a revolution in liberty. Six years later, in 1970, Salvador Allende, the leader of a coalition of Marxist and Social Democratic parties, was elected President on a platform that promised to bring about a peaceful transition to socialism. The Popular Unity program and the authors of its economic strategy “envisioned a carefully controlled revolution from above” (139), that radical social, political and economic change could be brought about within the framework of the constitution and the laws. According to Allende, “this required a carefully controlled and phased revolutionary process, which was also neces...
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...
Before 1958, Venezuela had been a dictatorship under the rule of General Pérez Jiménez (Golinger 23). Despite his unpopularity, Jimenez left a mark on Venezuela in the form of a myriad of public works (Anderson). In 1961, Venezuela’s first constitution, which gave Venezuelans new rights, was ratified (Golinger ...
El Comandante! El Comandante! If you scream that in the streets of Venezuela, there is only one person you could possibly be referring to – Hugo Chávez. The current president of the South American country, Venezuela, has been in power for the past four years. His time in office has been criticized by most and glorified by some. He has had the backing of other countries such as Cuba, Colombia, Brazil, Libya and Iraq. On the other hand, the United States has had a continuous growth of confusion for Chávez’s actions. The leader’s intentions have been surrounded by a circle of uncertainty. Chávez’s life as president or even before those days has been far from interesting. Hugo Chávez has been a leader, a commander and a revolutionist.
Since the 1970s, Venezuela has gone from being South America’s richest nation into a nouveau-poor society in search of an identity. Once known as the Saudis of the West, Venezuelans have seen their economic fortunes decline in exact proportion to the general fall in world oil prices. Even so, Venezuela’s many problems were hidden from view until relatively recently, when severity measures heralded the sort of economic crises so painfully familiar to other Latin American countries. Runaway inflation, currency devaluations and even food riots have marked this new phase in Venezuelan history, to which the country is still trying to adjust.
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.
During his life he inspired people to stand up for their rights. Chavez was a very good leader and, “By 1965 he had organized a union with a membership of 1700 workers” (Cesar Chavez 1). This illustrates his ability to bring people together to fight for what they deserve. Chavez is almost single handedly responsible for the Hispanic American civil right movement. He was the spark that lit the fire of “La Causa”, the cause (Cesar Chavez 2). This proves how Chavez could inspire revolution for a whole country. Many people could get behind Chavez because of his willingness to make personal sacrifices for the benefit of others. Chavez brought attention to his people’s struggle, “By fasting and inviting arrest. He (protested) alongside his workers and did jail time with them” (Cesar Chavez 1). Chavez was willing to do whatever was necessary and regularly put his own safety and wellbeing on the line for his people. Based on these examples it is obvious Chavez had many qualities that enabled him to unite workers and spur
Venezuela was one of the richest countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others being Colombia and Ecuador). For most of the first half of the 20th century, Venezuela was ruled by generally benevolent military strongmen, who promoted the oil industry and allowed for some social reforms. Democratically elected governments have held sway since 1959. Current concerns include: a polarized political environment, a politicized military, drug-related violence along the Colombian border, increasing internal drug consumption, overdependence on the petroleum industry with its price fluctuations, and irresponsible mining operations that are endangering the rain forest and indigenous peoples.
In Chavez’s article, he explicates that throughout history, violent revolutions have been more harmful for the poor and workers than beneficial. He employs this information in order to force the workers to cognize that violence should not be utilized because it will result in adverse outcomes. Chavez employs logic and history to allow his audience to understand that violence could become fatal for protesters. Chavez hopes to motivate his audience to condemn violent methods. He attempts to enlighten the workers about the futility of utilizing vehement methods as opposed to peaceful
Simon Bolivar was proclaimed “Liberator” by his own people and a world-renowned figure in his day. His prophetic vision of hemispheric solidarity lives today, and his political thinking serves dictators and democrat alike in contemporary Latin America. This paper explores the impact the days of colonialism and revolution, in which treatment of Creoles was inferior to Peninsulares (Spaniards born in Spain). And this was a long-standing cause of frustration and resentment that contributed to the desire for independence from Spain. In addition, this paper analyzes some facts of one of the greatest minds of the 18th century “Simon Bolivar”. There is abundant evidence that Bolivar worked extensively to create a system that would preserve unity and stability through a powerful, centralized government while retaining as much individual liberty as possible; but his efforts were exhausting and fruitless. However, even today (after 200 years) his contribution had been to promote the idea of independence among Spanish-American leaders. Simon Jose Antonio de la Santisima Trinidad Bolivar y Palacios (this was his real name) was born on July 24, 1783, the year England’s North colonies won their independence. [1] His father had been an important figure and the landlord of twelve houses in Caracas, herds of cattle, indigo plantations, mines, and sugar plantation that had been in the family for at least two centuries. He had organized a militia battalion in which his youngest son (Simon) would later serve, and he had been Caracas’s deputy to Madrid. Like many Creoles who visited Spain, he was disillusioned by Spain’s backwardness in comparison to other European nations. The Venezuelan Creoles, like those of other S...
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...