Going The Way of Mugabe
Tyrants are all the same, be they leftist or right-wing, cut from the same cloth. Of course you can't compare Hugo Chavez to Robert Mugabe. Or at least you can't compare the countries' resources. Robert Mugabe killed the goose that laid the golden egg when he intimidated, murdered, wrenched control from, took possession of, white-owned farms and businesses. A one-time cornucopia of agricultural plenty has turned into a wasteland of want in Zimbabwe.Zimbabwe's natural resources are primarily its people. And they're suffering egregiously. Starvation and privation are rife in the countryside, and hard currency has gone about as soft as it can, on the verge of completely dissolving in a sea of monumental inflation. There are no goods to be had, food is scarce in urban areas, but Mugabe and his henchmen still manage to live fairly good lives of plenty.
Venezuela is another story entirely; its wealth tied up in the world's most-valued resource; petrochemicals. But just as Robert Mugabe has gifted himself with the title of ruler-for-life, so too is Hugo Chavez entitling himself similarly. He has put down political dissent, labelling those who chafe at his self-rewarding entitlements as enemies of the state. He has polarized his country, but is still coasting along nicely on the approval of the majority underclass.
He is a poseur of the first water as a champion of the poor, the uninvested, whose loyalty he has bought through state-subsidized food, health subsidies, energy and promises. He has broadened his support considerably by reaching out to other Latin-American countries, making common cause against the historical insult of imperialist domination. He has invested heavily in projects outside of Venezuela, even playing the good uncle in as unlikely a place as the U.S.
And, he is intent on remaining at the helm. He is so gratuitously self-assured, so inordinately pleased with himself and certain of his place in the world of power politics and wealthy oil producers that he expressed the temerity of initiating his OPEC speech with a sign of the cross, most displeasing to his Islamic host. His venality and pride do not permit him to accept unbridgeable hurdles to his ambition.
He is on course to winning a referendum for constitutional change to scrap presidential term limits, and make the final turn in re-inventing the country as a supremely socialist state. And here's a surprise: it's not only university students and the Catholic Church of which he is an outstanding member opposing his self-aggrandizing schemes. Joining them in opposition now is retired General Raul Baduel, a one-time ally.
"This is a clear and evident usurpation and confiscation of power by the executive branch" said General Baduel. "They are...carrying out a coup." President Chavez realizes fully now that General Baduel is a "traitor" - to his personal cause. "The extreme right has found another pawn, he betrayed himself and the prestige he had earned" was the final denouncement of an enraged President Chavez.
General Baduel, should he live long enough, has become the loudest, clearest voice for a "no" vote against constitutional changes that could grant Hugo Chavez the power to appoint his lackeys over elected regional officials, and in the process take direct control of central bank currency reserves. Violent demonstrations continue.
Venezuela is a country divided. Should President Chavez realize success in his ambitions, it will become a country disabled. Albeit wealthy. And with quite a few good friends in places like Somalia, China, Iran and Cuba.
Labels: Political Realities, Troublespots
posted by Pieface @ Sunday, November 18, 2007
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