A stoic yet flamboyant man, President Chavez of Venezuela courageously fought cancer until his death on March 5th, 2013. Born on July 28th, 1954 in Sabaneta, he joined the Venezuelan Academy of Military Sciences in Caracas at the age of seventeen. His own experiences during childhood made him committed to achieving social equity.
In Peru, Chavez was greatly inspired by General Juan Velasco Alvarado’s speech which advocated for the military acting in the interest of the working classes when the ruling classes were perceived as corrupt. He was greatly inspired by Torrijos, leading to his land reforms program for peasant welfare [1].
In 1977, while battling the Red Flag Party (a Marxist Hoxhaist insurgency group), Chavez realised that corruption lay in both army and civilian governments. In 2007, Chavez said “the wealth of the country is produced through oil reserves, but Venezuelan poor masses are not getting their share”, which he felt was obviously undemocratic [2]. Chavez formed a secret movement called the “Bolivian Movement Revolutionary” in the name of Simon Bolivian (a South American independence leader) as he was a great admirer of him and Ezequiel Zamora, Simon Rodriguez.
Although his coup, Operation Zamora, failed in February 1992, Chavez’s importance still grew. Chavez wanted to overthrow then President Carlos Andre Perez and his corrupt politics. Perez followed a neoliberal economic policy supported by the US and IMF. Most of his policies angered the public which led to a widespread protest against him; this resulted in Perez ordering a raging repression called El Caracazo which “left a balance of 276 dead, injured, several disappeared and heavy material losses” [3]. Operation Zamora failed, but his supporters planned for the second coup. However, the second attempt in November 1992 also failed, their effort crushed. Chavez was imprisoned, saying he failed “por ahora (for now)” [4]. Chavez was let free on pardon by then President Caldera in 1994 when Perez impeached for malfeasance. He soon joined politics and reintroduced his party as the “Fifth Republic movement”; his supporters became his politicians.
In the 1998 election, Chavez pledged to promote social economic reforms, which helped him to earn support of the poor, especially the working classes. The poor identified with him and his humble upbringing; Chavez won and joined office in 1999. He won a series of elections from 2006, 2009, and again in 2012.
Historians favourable to Chavez argue he implemented clinics for the poor and social programs such as the Plan Bolivian 2000, which focused on health, education, infrastructure, vaccination, and affordable food. Yet poverty and unemployment remained a huge problem, despite Venezuela’s oil wealth. He introduced radio and television shows to interact with citizens and advocate for his future policies. Chavez was successful in forming a constitutional assembly that has the power to abolish institutions and officials who engage in corruption. The elected members of the assembly formed a new constitution that promises to protect indigenous people and their rights, and ensure public and social order. As a part of the new constitution the country’s name changed to Bolivarian Republic Of Venezuela.
An alternative view is that Chavez was an authoritarian egoist who exercised his thirst for power through his so-called government. Chavez divided Venezuela, where his government not only looted the country’s oil wealth but deviated from the previous foreign policy. Though the pre-Chavez governments were appalling, the Presidents had a term limit, were accountable to government, and the judicial body was appointed from various political parties. Under Chavez, none of this took place as he molded the Supreme Court, threw out judges who disagreed with him, and appointed his supporters to the judiciary. He was not accountable for his actions and pestered the labour unions. Chavez’s new constitution not only changed the bicameral legislature to a unicameral system, but it also concentrated power in the hands of the President, allowing him to legislate on economic and financial matters. Bureaucrats at all levels continued to engage in corruption. Officers who were caught in scandals were removed from their posts without legal prosecution.
Chavez cancelled or blocked the renewal of licenses of television channels that criticised him and his government. He embraced other dictatorial governments by being their vocal supporter. He rejected the Inter-American Human Rights System and restricted the Commission from monitoring human rights in Venezuela. Non-governmental organisations defending human rights were not only discouraged but prosecuted if they took support from foreign sources or invited any foreigners to criticise the Venezuelan government.
The 2012 Transparency International corruption perception index declared Venezuela most corrupt in the Americas due to mismanagement; billions of dollar were unaccounted for. Chavez believed that without him the future of Venezuela would regress.
It is clear Chavez had a complicated history- during his time, children received free meals per day, universal health care was established, and the national housing program started providing 350,000 homes to the needy. Poverty statistics declined, population increased, and living standards for Venezuelan people increased. He also tried to empower his citizens, especially women. But on the other hand he was a tyrant who assaulted freedom of the press, violated human rights, and was known for his corruption and misdeeds. He was also accused of nepotism with the increased involvement of his family in politics.
Was he a saviour or a bully? Was he a defender or a violator? Was he for the poor or for his own means? Was he treacherous or truthful? Was he despotic or liberal? Ironically, he was known for his corruption, despite the fact that he actually entered politics with anti-corruption policies.
He was well-known for his controversial speech in which he stated the United States was a government “fighting terror with terror” during the war against Afghanistan, and called then President Bush a “donkey”. In 2011, he revealed his sickness and later died due to a severe heart attack. After his death, it is unclear whether Venezuela will improve or fall further into absolutism.
References:-
[1] Jones Bart, 2007. Hugo! The Hugo Chavez Story from Mud Hut to Perpetual Revolution [2] Jones 60-64 [3] Inter American Courts of Human Rights 1999 [4] Gott Richard, 2007. Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela
