Hugo Chavez was a democrat, not a dictator

[Swagman]

Owen Jones

Wednesday 6 March 2013
Hugo Chavez was a democrat, not a dictator, and showed a progressive alternative to neo-liberalism is both possible and popular

The President's death will be mourned by millions of Venezuelans - and rightly so


If you want to learn about human rights in Venezuela before Hugo Chavez, type “Caracazo” into Google, and do so with a strong stomach. Back in 1989, then-President Carlos Andrés Pérez won an election on a fiery platform of resisting free-market dogma: the IMF was “a neutron bomb that killed people, but left buildings standing,” he proclaimed.

But after safely making it to the presidential palace, he dramatically u-turned, unleashing a programme of privatisation and neo-liberal shock therapy. With gas subsidies removed, petrol prices soared, and impoverished Venezuelans took to the streets. Soldiers mowed protesters down with gunfire. Up to 3,000 perished, a horrifying death toll up there with the Tienanmen Square Massacre – in a country with a population 43 times smaller.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/hugo-chavez-was-a-democrat-not-a-dictator-and-showed-a-progressive-alternative-to-neoliberalism-is-both-possible-and-popular-8522329.html

[TomClash]

1. More democratic than . . .

. . . most members of the Republican Party.

[The Magistrate]

2. True, Sir --- And Claims To the Contrary Are Swill

[Catherina]

3. Over 2000 slaughtered and hundreds were never found again

That's what the US means by "rule of law" and "democracy" for Latin America. Barf.

VIVA CHAVEZ!

[Swamp Lover]

4. Democratically elected dictator.

Equal parts benevolent, malevolent and egomaniac......

[Warpy]

5. He was. He was just a bit of an odd duck,

embracing fellow outcasts like Ahmedinejad, which gave anti democratic forces including our own Republicans plenty of ammo to use against him.

My main complaint is the cult of personality he set up, making him an extremely tough man to follow.

I just hope Venezuela is very lucky and that his successors follow his policy lead.

[Janecita]

6. Descansa en Paz, Comandante

"There are men who struggle for a day, and they are good. There are others who struggle for a year, and they are better. There are some who struggle many years, and they are better still. But there are those who struggle all their lives, and these are the indispensable ones".
Bertolt Brecht