Reply #3: Here is another excellent analysis of the twisted fascist thinking behind the attacks [View All]

[Peace Patriot]

on Chavez and Venezuela's democracy.

Francisco Toro and Venezuela’s “Savage” Democracy

February 11th 2009, by Samuel Grove - Red Pepper Venezuela Blog

In a recent online debate about the 10th anniversary of Hugo Chávez's presidency in Venezuela Francisco Toro described what he saw as the corrupting of Venezuela's democracy and general descent into authoritarianism. While Toro's conception of democracy appears at first glance to be an orthodox one, on closer inspection it becomes highly idiosyncratic and sheds a great deal of light both on the democratic revolution taking place in Venezuela and the type of opposition it has had to confront.

The ‘anti-democratic' charge is one frequently levelled at Chavez by commentators and groups (and more controversially an international human rights organisation). However, it has to be conceded, even by those making this charge, that it is counterintuitive to say the least. Under Chavez, Venezuelans have gone to the polls a record number of times. In the most recent municipal elections Chavez's PSUV received an impressive 52.5% of votes cast and won 17 of 22 governorships in the process. Participation was 65% (unheard of in western democracies for this type of election), a figure which tallies with recent findings of the respected polling agency Latinobarómetro which reported that satisfaction with democracy in Venezuela was the second highest in the region. So the anti-democratic charge has nothing to do either with the degree of public consultation or public endorsement. (MORE)

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/4195#comment-form

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Grove goes on to absolutely dismantle the trumped up corpo/fascist media charges against Chavez. It is a brilliant piece - highly recommended.