The quality of medical treatment in Cuba is actually excellent. Not surprising you wouldn't know that, though.
Not for or against the opinion in this article, but thought it was interesting anyway: http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-937093?hpt=hp_c2
The flipside of this is that the previous leaders didn't either - and in many ways, they did a worse job if the measure of a government is in how well it provides basics for its citizens. Chavez shouldn't be revered because there is a ton that is wrong with him and his leadership style. But by the same token, he probably also shouldn't be demonized either - the West has supported leaders much worse than him, and he at least did make a positive impact for those on the lowest rungs of society. That's something that many of the leaders we support have not done or even pretended to do.
I won't demonize him, now that he is dead, and I agree that that would be wrong now. But I am very much influenced by what people from Venezuela told me first-hand about what they thought of him.
If the people of Venezuela liked him, fine with me. And if the liberal media wants to honor him, pfft. But don't expect me to say ANYTHING nice about him or offer him a RIP. Tons of people die everyday that deserves more honor and RIP than this guy.
Even when he was alive though, there are so many worse dictators that we actively support than Chavez. It just seems weird for the US to focus so much animosity - and especially government attempts to overthrow - on him, when there are so many better targets to focus on. The reason the US opposed him was not that he was a dictator or ruled with an iron fist or controlled the media or whatever else. We just didn't like the economic decisions he made. We'd have been mostly fine with him if he ruled the same way but allowed the wealthy to prosper at the expense of the poor, instead of the poor benefiting at the expense of the wealthy. That seems problematic to me.
Dictators in South America are a bigger threat to America than Dictators in the Middle East or else were. Especially when the Dictator supported some of the most violent cartels that ever has been to fuel cash flow to his nation and in return try to ruin Americans lives with drug problems and violent, ruthless gangs on American soil. Chavez posed more of a threat than any terrorist group. And did it with a smile.
I understand what you are saying. I also think that there is some hypocrisy in hugging Saudi dictators while demonizing Chavez.
Thank you for posting this. It's a great article. People - especially people like glynch - should really read it. It reflects exactly what people from Venezuela told me.
Interesting that he amassed a personal fortune while poverty levels remained high. Most liberators liberate themselves.
I don't think we did but his paranoia about us doing that to him is understandable. Typically, I am very proud to be an American. Having said that I am also aware of how devious our government is. I believe we nurtured the Arab spring. Due to the advances in technology the CIA is probably doing more unimaginable and sinister things in countries we dislike than just arming their rebels, sanctioning ans spying.
Exactly, the amount of leeway we give to the Saudis is absolutely ridiculous. They probably fund terrorism to this very day. Can't wait for the day we don't have to rely on their arrogant asses for oil and watch them crumble.
I normally don't have a problem with what is necessary to protect American hegemony but I'm....very, very confused by these three sentences going back to back. Our government showed how devious it is by nuturing Arab Spring.
Their only America's friends if we can make money with them. Chavez refused to help U.S. billionares make money so we wasn't a friend.
Not to be overly cynical, but Chavez did the one thing that historically has caused the US to go bat**** - he nationalized most of the oil industry. In fact before Chavez became president, oil companies had been lobbying hard to fully privatize the market (including privatizing the state owned oil company) Chavez instead did the reverse and cancelled a ton of oil contracts with American oil companies. He then handed those oil rights to the state. And to top it off, Chavez was elected at the same time as Bush so all of this really started the relationship off on the wrong foot.
