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Posted on 09/30/2006 10:51:22 AM PDT by jdm
Hugo Chávez's anti-American rant at the United Nations left most Americans puzzled, incensed and even outraged. What makes Chávez tick?
To understand him, stop thinking of oil-producing Venezuela as a Latin American country. Think of it as a dysfunctional Middle Eastern petro-state. Doing that is the key to understanding Chávez and Venezuela.
Many oil-rich Arabs have a sense of cultural superiority and entitlement. So do many Venezuelans. Chavez is one of them. The 52-year-old former army lieutenant colonel grew up during Venezuela's oil boom years in the 1970s. That's when the South American nation seemed poised to attain First World status, or so many Venezuelans thought in the era of "Saudi Venezuela."
Chávez and most Venezuelans still entertain the notion that God blessed Venezuelans with fabulous oil wealth. Indeed, they regard themselves as special because of this. Yet 80 percent of 25 million Venezuelans live in poverty and endure rampant crime and corruption. These indices appear to have worsened under Chávez's administration — all of which Chávez denies.
Venezuela's oil wealth can no longer pay the bills as it did in the 1970s, when Venezuela had half the population of today and significantly less debt and fewer social problems. Yet the myth of Venezuela's oil wealth persists. Ultimately, it's a source of Chávez's inner conflict — and his anti-Americanism.
Like many Venezuelans, Chávez grapples with this contradiction — the myth of Venezuela's oil wealth and reality of its poverty. And like many Venezuelans, Chávez blames outsiders for the country's mess — gringos, oligarchs, whomever. He blames everything, in short, except decades of statist policies and corruption that have been Venezuela's undoing. Chávez has continued to follow these policies while attacking the nation's democratic institutions, press and civic organizations.
As Chávez blames Third World poverty on everybody but the Third World, he has done little to address his own country's monumental problems. His anti-poverty efforts amount to a patchwork of populist programs. They ensure his popularity. But they fail to form a comprehensive poverty-reduction program, promoting growth and diversifying the oil-dependent economy.
When Chávez bashes America and calls President Bush "the devil," one also must hold up a harsh light to Venezuela. The country survives on its oil revenues. It imports much of what it needs, and it creates very few of its own goods and services — at least not any that most Venezuelans would want.
Until the mid-1990s, for instance, Venezuela's phone system barely worked — until the gringos at GTE Corp. took over, broke up corrupt unions, dismissed inept and elitist Venezuelan managers and got the system up and running in a few short years. These gringos grate on the nerves of proud Venezuelans like Chávez. Deep down, however, Chávez must realize that Venezuela could never have accomplished anything like this on its own. No doubt, Chávez would prefer the inconvenience of lousy phone service to letting the gringos show him up.
A prominent Venezuelan sociologist once told me that many Venezuelans "are like the guy who should have made it but didn't." They're unable, he said, to accept responsibility for personal and collective failures. Instead, they blame others.
In Chávez's case, he blames America. It's a natural target. After all, for all his anti-American bluster, America is still the standard by which many Venezuelans judge themselves. In doing so, they are shamed at the thought that, for all their sense of entitlement, they could never match the Americans in management savvy, creativity and smarts.
Ultimately, Chávez and Venezuelans like him want attention. They want to be players on the global stage. Oil wealth, they figure, entitles them to this.
Chávez's anti-Americanism, moreover, achieves the recognition he never could attain by providing mundane things such as decent public services, crime control and serious anti-poverty programs. It's no wonder that Chávez gets along so well with oil-rich Middle Eastern thugs, who also are adept at the blame game, as they accuse Israel, America or whatever they can come up with to excuse their dysfunction.
No wonder so many Third World delegates in the U.N. applauded Chávez's anti-American rant. They, like Chávez, find it easier to blame America than to accept responsibility for their personal and collective failures.
David Paulin, a freelance journalist in Austin, was a Caracas-based correspondent during the years Hugo Chávez rose to power.
If you haven't already done so, BOYCOTT CITGO!
Good article, thanks for posting.
I am...those citgo stations are really undercutting local gas stations...and there are those buying that gasoline...
I am one of those buying Citgo. How many 'mericans you want unemployed? How many millions did the US Citgo president give to Jerry's kids this year?
Wonder what would happen if Hugho 'simon bolivar'Chavez stopped selling oil to the US?
You gonna sharpen swords for Muslims too?
Since we were discussing this earlier, I thought you would find it interesting.
Chavez and his supporters are not much different than the millions of Americans, Dems/libs, who blame everyone else but themselves for their problems.
Thanks. I studied Latin American history in college, and have forgotten most of it, but I think Chavez is mostly a caudillo type Latin American politician. It is a recurrent theme. I am encouraged that the opposition seems able to get its at together and mount a credible contest in December. However, I really don't think the comparison to Middle East petro states gets one very far. While social cohesion characterizes Arab states and societies, there is a wide gulf between European oligachy and Indian peasants in South America which is exploited by populists like Chavez. Even petro dollars has not changed the age old pathologies.
Directory > Reference > Britannica
caudillo
Latin American military dictator. In the wake of the Latin American independence movement in the early 19th century, politically unstable conditions and the long experience of armed conflict led to the emergence in many of the new countries of strongmen who were often charismatic and whose hold on power depended on control over armed followers, patronage, and vigilance. Because their power was based on violence and personal relations, the legitimacy of the caudillos' rule was always in doubt, and few could withstand the challenges of new leaders who emerged among their own followers and wealthy patrons. See also machismo; personalismo.
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Thanks, I learned a new word.
You are very welcome. btw, I had a successful and satisfying stint with Britannica. One of my very favorite institutions.
It's a good article but I don't agree with him. I think Vz has all the characteristics of a Latam state with the intellectual diseases of leftism, all derived from the Spanish civil war. The Guide To The Latin American Idiot is more informative, in my opinion.
Thank you prud yank for the correction. I am married to a Venezuelan for 27 years and have lived here for the last 13. As I stated before in another post, Chávez is not Venezuela. The mayority of Venezuelans rich and poor are great admirers of the US. The problem in Venezuela is that it always had many communists hidded behind the walls. Chávez's coming to power made them come out of the closet. They only blame themselves for voting Chávez into power only once in 1998. Most of them are sorry for their mistake. They are sick and tired of Chávez.
"If you haven't already done so, BOYCOTT CITGO!"
I'd rather push my Ford expedition to the nearest Exxon/Mobil than fill up at a Citgo.
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