elisheva

Chavez makes me so angry. I can understand that he has support in Venezuela, since populist leaders generally make sure they include some aid for the poor etc, but I don't understand how, for example, college students here can actually support him when he's single-handedly doing his best to sabotage Venezuelan democracy and establish himself as dictator.

sum1

::nods::

sunnykerr

I'm not a big supporter of Chavez, so bear that in mind when I say what I'm about to say. Obviously, the man's gone off the deep end, democratically speaking, but I can understand why he still has support, especially among college students.

For one thing, Venezuela doesn't have a strong, lenghty, democratic history. So it's not like democracy is automatically prefered as a political ideology.

More to the point, perhaps, Chavez was first elected as a reaction against the policies of the government that preceded his and which created a lot of entrenched inequalities in the country. Chavez, at least in terms of policy, is a populist. So, and obviously I don't know this through personal experience, at least on paper, Chavez's policies have meant that poor people now have a better shot at an education (hence the whole university student support - some of them may be there thanks to Chavez's populist policies and, if not, unversity student are generally known to be more idealistic).

The other thing that I know about Chavez is that, at least early on in his presidency, he enacted a lot of reforms to the effect of stopping privatization of companies, mass vaccination campaigns, construction for the poor and campaigns against poverty and disease in the country.

And he's opposed the American government. Which, considering how oil-rich Venezuela is, and considering that most of Latin America was, at one time or another, subject the to American government's will... I can see why that would elicit a lot of support on the home front. And I say that knowing that any unilateral opposition to any one country is problematic at best.

My point is this, Chavez is very intelligent. And a lot of the things he has done domestically, in light of the previous governments in Venezuela... I can see why people still support him even as he is moving increasingly more towards an authoritarian regime.

elisheva

Oh, I mean specifically North American college kids. I can understand (but disagree with) support for him at home in Venezuela. But a middle-class white left-wing-ish college student supporting him (which I've seen plenty of, maybe because a lot of my university friends are pretty left-wing) - it just seems to be almost this smug knee-jerk anti-Bush reaction. I don't know - I'm probably generalizing. But Chavez really infuriates me; I think he's sabotaging his own country for personal glory and power.

Avatar

Chavez' popularity in Venezuela arguably has something - and perhaps most - to do with his domestic policies. But Latin-America have always been so far from God, and so close to the United States ... if you go against that, you're bound to be popular.

sunnykerr

Hey, I don't know, North American college kids being supportive of Chavez may very well be entirely about being anti-Bush. Which isn't a good reason to be anti or pro anything. On the other hand, though, it's not like we all have to have deep reasons to feel or express something. I'd say that people who are pro-Chavez just to be anti-Bush probably wouldn't be the loudest or most involved supporters of Chavez. If the only reason you care about someone/something is because it pisses someone else off... it may be just me, but I don't see that generating a whole lot of onus to make a big to-do about it.

I don't know. I have issues with Chavez myself. But than again he isn't my president. I'm certainly not saying that a foreign country should NEVER have a say in domestic affairs elsewhere (hello? Darfur. Burma. Uganda. Etc., etc., etc.), but we've got a really crappy history in the West of getting actual results from unilateral involvements in other people's business.

elisheva

Oh, yeah - I definitely don't think another country should be throwing their weight around in Venezuela. But still, Chavez isn't any hero or icon for people to be idolizing.

I loved when the king of Spain told Chavez to shut up and stop interrupting the Spanish prime minister, though.

Dark Half Undine

Chavez is a dangerous figure because he's using all of the currently popular interests to further his power.

I think for the United States especially, people here who support him are being very short sighted and thinking only of his "bravery" standing up to the Bush administration.

He creates this veneer of being for the people, but really at the end of it all, can you really trust any government official? Especially one using socialism for his own gain.

Socialism is a wonderful dream and I think it is possible for it to work, but in a few years I think we'll be seeing the results of Chavez's dreams. And it may not be very pretty.