Opinion
- Editorial
Diane
Abbott:
Chavez-the
face of Latin American change
Nowadays few political leaders dare describe themselves
as socialist. And it is a brave Latin American leader
who stands up to America. As one regional politician
put it "Poor Latin America - so far from God
but so close to the United States''. So I was intrigued
last week to meet the Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez.
He
was in London for a whistle stop visit; on his way
from a summit in Vienna between the EU, Latin American
and Caribbean countries. He did not disappoint.
Chavez is mixed race, thick set, beautifully turned
out and very charismatic. He speaks at Castro-style
length.
At
the first rally held in his honour in London his
speech lasted nearly four hours -to the amazement
of some of his English audience. But his rhetoric
sweeps you along. You can see how he has captivated
the masses of Venezuela.
And
it is not the just the poor of his own country that
love Chavez. He is extremely popular in Latin America.
They love his style of standing up to Uncle Sam.
"In some places he is even more popular than
that country's own president,'' says Larry Birns,
the head of the Washington-based Council of Hemispheric
Affairs. But one place where Chavez is deeply unpopular
is Washington.
The
US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, has accused
Chavez of leading a "Latin American brand of
populism that has taken countries down the drain''.
She described Venezuela's close relationship with
Cuba as "particularly dangerous''.
America's
dilemma when it comes to Chavez is that, although
they dislike his politics, they are very dependent
on his oil. Venezuela is the fourth largest oil
producer in the world. Its oil reserves are vast
- the largest in the Americas - and it has the largest
proven gas reserves in Latin America.
The
Middle East is in turmoil (largely as a result of
America's own policies) and other energy producers
like Nigeria and the former Soviet Union have their
own problems. So Venezuela is of the utmost strategic
importance to the United States; both in terms of
energy reserves and security of supply.
Chavez
was first elected in 1998, sweeping away the old
Venezuelan elites. He has taken advantage of a steep
rise in oil prices to fund a range of anti-poverty
programmes, including land reform; a literacy drive;
health clinics in slum districts; aid to single
mothers; free treatment to HIV/AIDS sufferers; special
tuition for early school leavers; evening classes
for adults and subsidised food for the poor.
Under
Chavez, Venezuela now has the lowest infant mortality
rate in South America. He has also taken a much
more strategic approach to Venezuela's energy production.
The
oil minister, Rafael Ramirez, says "It was
an absurd situation where for the past 100 years
of oil production here in Venezuela we did not ship
a single barrel of petroleum to the Caribbean, Brazil,
Argentina or Uruguay. But now with the government
of President Chavez, we have set up a system of
shipping cheap oil to other Latin American countries
in return for agricultural and industrial products''.
And Chavez is looking to develop his natural gas
reserves, which he believes may eventually supplant
oil as the country's main export. So he is spearheading
a mammoth US$20 billion project to build a gas pipeline
from Venezuela in the north to Patagonia at the
southern tip of South America.
Chavez
has also spent some of his oil riches abroad. He
made offers of millions of dollars of aid for the
victims of Hurricane Katrina and cheap heating oil
for poor families in Boston and New York.
But
the most worrying thing for America is that Chavez
appears to be part of a new wave of left-wing or
centrist politicians who are winning elections in
Latin America. They include the populist Lula in
Brazil and, in Bolivia, Evo Morales, who has recently
announced the nationalisation of his country's oil
and gas industry.
In
the Middle East, George Bush claims to be against
military dictators and in favour of democracy. But
an outbreak of actual democracy in Latin America
is making him very nervous.
In
2002, a group of dissident generals backed by opposition
media tycoons and the Venezuelan elites launched
a coup against Chavez. The coup collapsed when hundreds
of thousands of poor Venezuelans took to the streets
to demand the release of their hero. America certainly
knew about the coup in advance and the suspicion
is that they funded it.
In 2005, Pat Robertson, a right-wing television
evangelist (and former presidential candidate) who
is very close to neo-conservative circles in Washington,
called for the assassination of Chavez. George Bush
was quick to distance himself from this. But the
remarks may point to the thinking in certain circles
in Washington. Even British leader, Tony Blair,
always quick to echo George Bush's thinking, surprised
Labour MPs by making negative remarks about Chavez
in Parliament recently.
But
so far Chavez has survived the coup attempts and
torrents of CIA-funded propaganda. He is constantly
accused of being a dictator. But, as he points out,
he has held and won eight elections. And all of
them have been certified by outside observers as
free and fair. A political wind of change is blowing
across Latin America; Chavez seems to personify
it.
Diane
Abbott is
as Op-Ed contrinbutor in Jamaica Observer.
Petroleumworld
not necessarily share these views.
Editor's
Note: This commentary was published by Jamaica Observer,
on May 22, 2006. Petroleumworld reprint this article
in the interest of our readers.
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