Now recently, i have talked about the falling oil prices harming the OPEC so i decided to find out how some of them are doing and found this about Venezuela. Hugo Chavez has been quite popular in this country for some time due to the oil prices and yet now, he seems to be taking the heat. Being a socialist leader, Chavez has depended on the poor for getting elected yet in a surprising turn of events, he has lost Petare, one of the biggest slums in Latin America.
"Mountains of trash are strewn along the dirt roads of the slum, a vast jumble of brick homes — or "ranchos" — clinging to hillsides. Some residents credit Chavez with bringing free health clinics staffed by Cuban doctors but others complain about rampant violent crime and potholes."
Regardless, Chavez continues to hold most of the country and something I found out was that there will be a vote this February on whether to do away with term limits which would allow him to stay president.
I for one am glad that Chavez is losing power because he has not done enough to help the poor. Poverty is still rampant and is at 28.5 which is an improvement from previous years but i believe it is more because of the originally high gas prices than anything else. Furthermore, he does not strike me as the nicest person. He seems a nasty person who crushes opposition such as when he detained a military general for protesting the motto of Venezuela ("socialism or death"). Furthermore, i am skeptical because this is going to be the second atttepmt to extend the term limit which seems more like a personal power grab than anything else. I hope that a better president is elected and that the country can improve as a whole without the need for oil.
4 comments:
Hugo Chavez seems like he has a lot to deal with rite now but i dont think that means he isnt doing a good job. Since 1988 Hugo Chavez has been the president of Venezuela and was reelected three times since. His goals are to combat disease, illiteracy, malnutrition, poverty, and other social ills. Abroad, Chávez has acted against the Washington Consensus by supporting alternative models of economic development, and has advocated cooperation among the world's poor nations, especially those in Latin America. I definitely dont the he is abusing his power becasue there could be alot worst presidents who promote worse for their country. I think Chavez' ideas show a kind side to him how he puts others before himself and dedicates his time to make these peoples living conditions better. I thnk he is good for Venezuela and they should not concider term limits unless they are in desperate need of a new leader.
Just because he was elected three times doesn't mean he is a good president; it just means that he's the most powerful person in the country and can pay off/persuade important people to vote for him. Also, I don't completely agree with Lindsay. He may have done some good things during his presidency, but he has also done a lot of bad. Many critics believe his domestic policy is full of corruption and crime. Not to mention, he is suspected of "gigantic fraud" during the 2004 recall referendum. He obviously is not as good as people think he is.
As for his attempt to do away with term limits, it's just a power grab. His democratic socialist stances are quickly turning into something very un-Democratic. Can anyone say dictator?
Hugo Chavez is a horrible man. His policies have made Venezuela practically communist (never a good thing) at the expense of freedom and democracy. He strong arms the opposition, silences the media when it doesn't support him, nationalizes foreign and domestic companies with compensation, and tries to buy off as many countries as he can to be anti-US. Meanwhile, he ignores many of the poor in his own country and tries ridiculous power grabs, like erasing term limits just for the hell of it. He is a thorn not only in the side of America, but of his own people. Communism doesn't work and the sooner quasi-communists are out of power, the better of their countries will be.
I strongly agree with Scott, but i have a little more detail. Yes it is true, Venezuela is practically a communist nation. A strong ally of Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez has emerged as a controversial leader. For the past decades he has been trying to elect socilist leaders in South American nations like Peru, Nicaragua, and Bolivia. He has succeeded in Nicargua and Bolivia, it is known that Chavez is giving order to his fellow socilist countries. He is a danger for democracy in South America and he needs to be stopped. Not only that but he has incredibly anti American feelings
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