President Hugo Chavez who has passed away reduced poverty and income inequalities in Venezuela, empowered his people through participatory local democracy, and built a bulwark against neoliberalism in Latin America. See below for a video discussion of his legacy.
For his strong stance against neoliberalism, Chavez was often demonised in the financial centres and corporate media in the West.
The country’s oil revenue was used for impressive housing, education and health care social programmes that lifted the quality of life among the masses.
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Chavez was smart to use the oil money to pay for the poor, so he was popular and was treated like God. If only Mahathir could do likewise, he would have been liked by the poor …
He help millions of dirt poor with oil money, but he screwed private enterprises, businessmen and middle class, like Malaysia, million of middle class professional have also left the country for good.
People should compare what Chavez did in Venezuela and what happened in Colombia in the same period. Colombia not only dealt with age-old armed conflicts but at the same time leveraged the rise in price of energy and minerals to produce as broad a social result that is permanent, at the same time being more democratic, respect for human rights and private property..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DROnWLtx6WI
Chavez interview with BBC’s Stephen Sackur on “Hardtalk”
All he did was took a lot of oil money and land from private owners and basically funded local initiatives, by-passing middle management. What he did was basically one big social and development incubator with foreign expertise that has no standards to speak off. Its simply unsustainable and will fall apart. Its just one big development bubble .
Chavez had criticised and condemned by “bankers, businesses and their ilk” for foolish economic policies (bec. it does not favour them) but never for being corrupt and for stealing his conuntry’s wealth….my greatest respect for him….he is no Mugabe….or Mugabe’s friend
How would one know whether he is corrupt or not.
Venezuela has much much more oil than Malaysia and with a little bit off nobody would have notice.
A year ago, he wondered alound why so many South American heads of government – at least 4 incuding himself if I recall coorectly – had developed cancer. Thanks to Castro, Che and him, Souh America is at long last organising itself better every year, and emerging from the hellhole dug for it by you know who.