Hugo Chavez: The Portrait of a Leader
"Yesterday, the devil came here. Right here. Right here. And it smells of sulfur still today, this table that I am now standing in front of. Yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, from this rostrum, the president of the United States, the gentleman to whom I refer as the devil, came here, talking as if he owned the world. Truly. As the owner of the world. I think we could call a psychiatrist to analyze yesterday’s statement by the president of the United States. As the spokesman of imperialism, he came to share his nostrums, to try to preserve the current pattern of domination, exploitation and pillage of the peoples of the world...An Alfred Hitchcock movie could use it as a scenario. I would even propose a title: ‘The Devil’s Recipe.’ ”
--- Hugo Chavez today at the UN
Chavez has never been afraid to bite his tongue. He, like many of the leaders of Latin America, is unabashedly leftist. As I was reading the New York Times today, I was more than pleased to see someone who calls the Bush Administration out. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts...
blackguard -- noun: 1. A rude or unscrupulous person; a scoundrel. 2. A person who uses foul or abusive language. adjective:1. Scurrilous; abusive; low; worthless; vicious; as, "blackguard language." transitive verb: 1. To revile or abuse in scurrilous language
"Man has to suffer. When he has no real afflictions, he invents some"
--- Jose Marti
posted by Cocacy @ 2:26:00 PM
4 Comments:
Hi, thanks for visiting my blog. Although I agree with Chavez to some extent, I try not to call people devils and prefer to hear people who take their own inventory before someone else's and who simply talk about how, say, the devil, affects THEM. Unfortunately Chavez won't persuade any Americans...words are important (except when it's Bush, I guess). Huh, I never noticed how it seems we can spot 'em over there but not over here...wierd...thanks!
Hi, Cocacy, thank you for visiting my blog as well. Chavez's UN rhetoric was intemperate and unbefitting someone who casts himself as a world leader (or even a regional leader), but I also keep in mind that he has legitimate beef with the Bush administration, which supported (and may have enabled) a coup against him, and which is hostile to nearly every leftist nation and potential leader (cf. Lopez Obrador, Ortega, etc.) on this earth, especially if they fail to go along with neoliberal economics and neonconservative foreign policy. His public resistance to Bushism has drawn him admirers all over the globe.
I think his comments were certinly imprudent although most certainly in jest. I should note that Bush invokes the same language ("axis of evil"). This isn't a question of evil but profits and selfish interests and a good deal of prejudice. Chavez certainly shouldn't have sunk to Bush's level but I can't say it wasn't refreshing to hear. But I do think the most important thing to remember was that it was in jest.
I'm quite fond of Bolivia's president as well. I appreciate the fearless ant-imperialist leadership coming out of South America.
It's important not to champion Chavez since he has decided to align himself with some of the world's brutal dictatorships, like Iran, Cuba, and Uzbekistan (where the government boils people alive as a form of torture). Chavez started out as the "people's hero" but has decided that he wants to run the country for 20 years despite Constitutional prohibitions.
Get it? He's like a lot of politicians, once they are in power they care less about their original mission and only about their power and ambition.
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