President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, who died of cancer in Caracas on Tuesday, was not just a visionary committed to improving the lives of the great majority of his people but a masterly politician who knew how to achieve that end. First elected in 1998 and then surviving a right-wing putsch in 2002 which collapsed in the face of huge public support for him, Mr. Chávez turned his nation of 29 million into a pivot for the political and economic renewal of an entire continent. With a clear commitment to his country’s and to Latin America’s sovereignty, the ‘Bolivarian Revolution’ that Mr. Chávez set in motion sought to reassert the independence of a region that the Libertador Simón Bolivar had set out to unify in the 19th century. Mr. Chávez started by nationalising the biggest domestic oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), and negotiating vastly improved terms with the foreign oil companies which had been making colossal sums out of the world’s greatest known hydrocarbon reserves while paying a pittance in royalties. Mr. Chávez put the revenues to good use, raising social spending by over 60 per cent to $772 billion in a decade and reducing extreme poverty from 40 per cent to 7.3, in addition to expanding healthcare services; furthermore, one in three Venezuelans now gets free education up to and including university level. As for the rest of the region, soon after assuming office, Mr. Chávez accepted the services of Cuban doctors in exchange for oil supplies to a country victimised by U.S. sanctions for over 40 years. Other countries too benefited from his acts of solidarity.
Chávismo, as this approach came to be called, infuriated the United States, which had long dominated Latin America through brutal dictatorships and oligarchical democracies. Washington all but publicly welcomed the 2002 coup against President Chávez and spent the better part of the decade which followed seeking to undermine his government in one way or the other. Will his death now produce the outcome that his enemies in Venezuela and North America sought all these years? One of the weaknesses of the Chávez model was the central role that the President himself played in the system. But its strength lay in the active involvement of dozens of social movements, some of which coalesced with the socialist party he built while others remained supportive from the outside. His choice of Nicolás Maduro as Vice President was also one calculated to energise the rank and file of this extraordinary coalition. However, it is the better life which millions of Venezuelans enjoy today that will serve as the first line of defence for Chávismo as the U.S. and its allies try to turn the clock back.
Keywords: Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, Hugo Chávez, Venezuela politics, Latin America politics, socialism
It was shocking to learn that President Hugo Chávez died of cancer though expected.
He was a visionary and he did so much for the poor in Venezuela. He had dreams and a vision and he was determined to fulfill his vision. Yes he made Venezuela a better place to live. He put the revenues to good use, raising social spending by over 60 per cent to $772 billion in a decade and reducing extreme poverty from 40 per cent to 7.3, in addition to expanding healthcare services; furthermore, one in three Venezuelans now gets free education up to and including university level.
Cuban doctors came to Venezuela for work, qualified medical treatment was possible for the people of Venezuela.
He led a convincing life and especially India with an appalling poverty, corruption, injustice needs a politician like Mr. Chavez.
Our world needs outstanding human being like Chavez and Gandhi.
Mr. Chavez will be unforgettable forever and live in the hearts of the Venezuelans.
It is exhilarating to note the rare rigour of a statesman whose solitary aim was to strive for the development and welfare of Latin American confederation as a consolidated entity. If his life could have been prolonged, it would have resulted in fetching greater consequences for the Latin group of nations.
1.It is a tragedy that few people who stand erect for their poor have
to face early death.
2. Even more a tragedy that only so called non-democracies produced
such people and so-called democracies are slowly impoverished without
exemplary leaders and suffer under the predicament about whom to
protect and whom not to even when it is evident that human compassion
goes for those who suffer disadvantage.
3.few leaders were like Chavez in our times we are lucky to see him in
action and inspiring many across the world.
A good, condensed review, of a great man. Braving demonic forces in the aid of his country and people. Do not fall into the American trap, India!
Crisp and well written.
A man of vision has gone. The wonders he worked in uplifting the
lives of the lower echelons of the society will long be remembered.
Gone is the man who defied the mighty might by his actions at home.
Yes, the US and its allies will more than double their efforts in
destabilising this region now more than ever before because of the
mess their economies are in. Will the people of Venezuela be
vigilent enought to see what is good for them and defend the legacy
of Chavez.
He was a true follower and disciple of Fidel. Not many politicians in the world will be remembered or credited with doing good to the people and this open acknowledgement that he bettered the lives of his people, will keep him in our memory for years to come.
He stood gallantly against USA like his mentor.He will also be remembered for the fiery speech he delivered at the U.N.where he openly called George bush a ghost and a beast of a man.
Revolutionaries have always found their due place in the history books, however hard their means may be.
Dear Sir,
Like the revolutionary Cuban Leader Fidel Castro,Venezuelan roaring
tiger,Hugo Chavez never buckled under the US imperialistic pressure that
has been throttling South America.Even the dissenting voices within
Venezuela had nothing but praise for the departed soul.His passing away
would create a vacuum in the oil rich nation of South America.Tough days
are ahead for Venezuela.
[Mr. Chávez started by nationalising the biggest domestic oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), and negotiating vastly improved terms with the foreign oil companies which had been making colossal sums out of the world’s greatest known hydrocarbon reserves while paying a pittance in royalties.]
You mean he collaborated with the satanic west in their project of raping and destroying Mother Earth?
"President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, who died of cancer in Caracas on
Tuesday, was not just a visionary committed to improving the lives of
the great majority of his people but a masterly politician who knew how
to achieve that end"- I agree and may join your great news paper to
salute the latin American "Giant" for what he achieved for his people
and for gaining a definite self dignity to his oil-rich country.
La editorial lo mejor. Excellant tributo.
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