Chavez turns "hard left"
CNN's Alberto Padilla has written a rather damning piece of "analysis" against Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez in the wake of the president's re-election.
Given the announcements made last week, when he was inaugurated for a new term and named a new Cabinet, we can say that Venezuela is heading towards the old communism of the last century, and more in the Cuban or North Korean style than the Chinese.So what makes a man a "hard left communist" in the eyes of Padilla? Apparently anyone who refuses to play ball with American economic interests and corporate domination of the globe.
Padilla notes how Chavez is nationalizing Venezuela's largest telephone company (which is currently controlled by Verizon) as well as the electric company (which is also currently controlled by a U.S. based company). Of course, we all know that Chavez's popularity with the rich elite began to take a nose dive when the president started redistributing the oil wealth of the country to the poor.
Reading "analysis" such as this, it becomes rather obvious why people loathe people like Hugo Chavez. It's all about the so-call "free market" -- which of course translates into countries that play ball with American economic interests. If you are the head of a state that refuses to adopt the neoliberal doctrine of the "free market," then you best watch your ass. Uncle Sam doesn't like it when you don't play ball...especially if you decide to help out the impoverished people of your country.
Pieces such as Padilla's always fail to mention the sweeping social reforms that Chavez has put into place in Venezuela. Chavez's government has set aside some 44.7% of the 2007 budget for social investment. Can the U.S. government say the same -- as we spend billions a year on an imperial war?
Somehow I highly doubt it.
File Under: Hugo Chavez, Venezuela, Latin America, Padilla, editorial