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Wow, nice to see some of you actually take the time to read about latin american politics instead of eating up all the bullshit the U.S. government tries to feed the world.
Before I go into this here post let me tell you, I live in Venezuela. I was born here and I love this awesome piece of land. I'm also technically part of the opposition to Chavez's government. As a law school student I don't think he should have been a legal candidate considering he attempted a military coup a few decades ago. He was given full pardon (the actual legal figure is better than a pardon since it erases your criminal record entirely) and as such he was allowed to run as a candidate. I consider that a flaw in the previous constitution and this one. He's also lacking as a diplomat but thats neither here nor there at this point since he mainly attacks the U.S., which in my opinion and for a wide range of reasons deserve to be opposed in a political standpoint. That said, let me clarify a few misconceptions about Chavez:
First of all, he's not "taking land" from anyone. That is a complete lie. Latin America has a long standing problem with latifundia (look it up in wikipedia). He's merely enforcing the laws created to solve this problem of several families having ridiculously vast amounts of idle territory in their property, a heritage of previous dictatorships and colonial rule.
Second, Venezuela is FAR from being Cuba. Civil liberties are upheld here, there is free trade and capitalism. Chavez merely leans to the socialist side in order to solve immediate social problems. His revolution is a peaceful and legal one, unlike Fidel's. Not to mention that it is far more elaborate and planned out. He is loved by the people and there is no denying that fact. If thats not a testament to a good job so far as a leader, I don't know what is.
Now lets look a the international stage. Chavez has made great relations with many countries during his time in office. The only government he doesn't get along with is the U.S. And with good reason. What would you do if the world's leading superpower arbitrarily deemed you a menace to the world? What would you do if said government repeatedly lied about your actions and your rights as a legitimate government? For all of Chavez's comments against the U.S., they pale in comparison to the damage the Bush administration's defamation campaign against my country has caused. Case in point, Bush claims Venezuela to be a destabilizing force in the south when all the Chavez administration has done is help out in the region. Chavez donates large portions of our oil wealth to help in other countries, he's promoting helpful socialist programmes in the region and he's trying to unify the latin american culture much like it was done in the european union. Of course, having a second powerful, unified, continental front to compete against in the world could be considered destabilizing to U.S. hegemony. Then so be it, I say.
Of course, he's not a perfect president either. The whole matter with his legislative powers is troublesome (specially to someone studying law), but keep in mind that his party already has absolute majority in the National Assembly (congress and whatnot), so this only expedites the inevitable Chavist legislation. He has one aim with the whole thing and there is no confusion about it. He wants to extend the legal opportunity of reelection and the presidential term. There has never been any doubt about this and he's never lead anyone to think otherwise. From his first year in office one of his slogans has been "to 2021", which is his clearly stated intended date of retiring from presidential power.
What can I say? The people support him in this and he's never lied to them. I'm personally against it but thats democracy at its finest for you. He's done a decent job so far (commendable in comparison to some of our previous presidents, in fact). One can only hope he'll keep his revolution in the right track...
PS: To get back to the main topic though. I clearly think Bush is far worse.
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"Knowledge comes by eyes always open and working hands, and there is no knowledge that is not power." Jeremy Taylor
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