BOOKS: A mud hut monkey who scares the USA
June 18, 2008 12:50 pm artsHugo! The Hugo Chávez Story from Mud Hut to Perpetual Revolution by Bart Jones
The Bodley Head, £12.99
MOST of the reports about Hugo Chávez and the Venezuelan revolution over the past ten years have been vicious, heavily influenced by the hostility of the USA. But Bart Jones, who is openly sympathetic to Chávez, does an exemplary job of examining his life and actions from a plethora of perspectives.
All writers skew and shape their subjects but Jones’ biographical credentials are first class. He lived in Venezuela for eight years and conducted a series of interviews with Chávez. He resided first with the destitute in a poor Caracas barrio as a Maryknoll lay worker when he arrived from the States and then, working as a foreign correspondent for Associated Press, moved into the exclusive Altamira neighbourhood, a bastion of the opulent opposition to Chávez. So Jones has witnessed, first hand, the two extremes of Venezuelan society.
He describes the Chávez story he documents as “straight out of Hollywood”. His narrative is full of vividly descriptive passages that give brilliant clarity in the most cluttered of political landscapes. His account of the 1992 coup attempts and the 2002 coup read like a good thriller. And with shrewd analysis, rendered in accessible language, he brings to life the passions of both sides – allowing the layman to join the dots. This is illustrated in his analysis of the employer-led oil strike and Chávez’ refusal to renew RCTV’s broadcasting license which the US described as an attempt to silence opponents, further proof that the democratically elected president is really a dictator.
Jones offers readers another lens through which to examine these events. RCTV, controlled by members of the country’s wealthy élite, including station chief Marcel Granier, saw Chavez’ Bolívarian revolution as a threat to established privilege. For two days before the coup in 2002, RCTV cancelled its regular programmes and ran constant coverage of a general strike aimed at ousting Chávez. A stream of commentators constantly criticised the president with no response allowed from the government. RCTV ran adverts encouraging people to attend a march on April 11 to topple the government and then broadcast blanket coverage of the event itself. When the march ended in violence, RCTV manipulated footage to falsely blame Chávez supporters for the deaths and injuries. Like all good investigative journalists Jones asks substantial questions: why was this station not shut down earlier and why were its leading personnel not arrested and brought to trial?
The author also takes the reader on a voyage into the deep waters of Venezuelan history. Few outside Latin America know much about the period of national formation and the bitter wars that engulfed the continent, but with a deft literary touch he weaves in the key events in the life of Chávez’ inspiration, the great liberator Simon Bolívar and other heroes of Latin American independence. He equips the reader with the tools needed to understand the roots of the Bolívarian revolution in Venezuela. He also provides a compelling insight into why the poor adore Chávez, and why the white oligarchy view him as an uncouth “monkey” whose dark skin and boisterous manner seem as much a cause of their revulsion as his left-wing policies.
Ruling élites across the world are keen to paint Chávez, a charismatic and popular politician, as a dangerous tyrant. But this book shows that Hugo Chávez and the revolution in Venezuela can best be understood as the long overdue expression of the hopes of millions of people who are no longer resigned to a fate without hope. This makes it essential reading for anyone interested in understanding global – as well as Latin American – politics.
Enrico Tortolano
Concerned Venezuelan :
Date: June 19, 2008 @ 2:17 pm
It must be great to be able to write all this BS from the comfort of your home, far away from Venezuela’s violence and insecurity.
An “employer-led oil strike” you say??? Funny, as the oil company that went on strike (PDVSA) is (and was at the time) government owned and operated!!!
Are you aware that under Chavez, homicides have gone up more than fivefold in Venezuela? It’s a more dangerous place than Iraq.
Are you aware that under Chavez’s economic policies Venezuela has the highest inflation rate of Latin America and one of the highest in the world?
Are you aware that under Chavez’s policies, Venezuela has lost more than half of its oil production capacity?
Are you aware that Chavez publicly admitted that he had fired the oil company’s managers in a humiliating manner in order to provoke a general strike and fire more than 20,000 professionals he deemed not loyal to his revolution?
Are you aware that 50% of Venezuelan factories/companies have shut down since Chavez came to power?
Are you aware that RCTV’s license was revoked in violation of current laws and never given a chance of defending itself in a trial? Are you aware that its infrastructure was stolen by the government with the Supreme Court’s complicity?
Are you aware that although the PEOPLE voted against Chavez’s reform package in a December referendum, he has been using illegal executive powers to pass his reforms, against the will of the people?
You also fail to mention that Chavez controls more than 80% of all media (tv, radio and print) and he forces all tv and radio networks (public AND private) to broadcast his daily multihour-long speeches with no compensations (and no regard for the people’s right to watch their favorite shows).
This is just more communist government propaganda… an insult to anyone with half a brain.
Dr Alex Alexandrou :
Date: July 19, 2008 @ 4:00 pm
Lies, damned lies and statistics come to mind with the diatribe from
the individual who does not have the courage to reveal his/her true
identity. In addition, this diatribe is mere political provocation. Both the book review and the book were not written by “communists” from their comfortable armchairs but by two individuals who have significant experience of working and observing Latin American politics at close quarters.
I for one will not argue that Venezuela is perfect but under Hugo Chavez the rest of the world can see that major changes are afoot. Here are some real facts for “Concerned of Venezuela”: the poor are being enfranchised; illiteracy is slowly but surely being eliminated; the government is providing ongoing courses in basic education for those who have failed to complete their elementary education,particularly under previous political administrations and there is provision of free healthcare to the poorest in Venezuelan society.
As for democracy being stifled - this is not true. There are a significant number of newspapers and television stations in Venezuela whose sole aim is to undermine the Chavez administration with extreme right wing propaganda that if promulgated in the democracies of the United States and Europe would be regarded as outright Fascism and Nazism.
It seems to me that “Concerned of Venezuela” harks back to the days when Venezuela and its vast natural resources such as oil were in the control of a minority of wealthy individuals and families and foreign governments who did not have the intersts of the nation or its populace at heart and we all so the result of that - a significant section of Venezuelan society disenfranchised and caught in the poverty trap. Thankfully, under Chavez, this situation is slowly being reversed - long may it continue.
Jack :
Date: July 21, 2008 @ 10:23 am
I am Concerned of London, concerned that Concerned of Venezuela has had a stroke of some kind and lost all grasp of reality, now believing himself to be in the 1950s. It is a long time since I have seen a legally elected nationalist democrat with socially progressive and populist policies called a Commie. It bought a nostalgic tear to my eye.
As for reality itself, Concerned should not be so Concerned (if he is, other than for his own bank account). For example, 80% of Venezuela’s media is in private hands, and is anti-Chavez. Political murders have declined under Chavez, and are a blip compared to countries (like Colombia) in which the Government secures massive U.S support. RCTV’s license was revoked at the end of its natural term in accordance with statutory law and after it supported an illegal military coup againts the country’s elected President. All studies consistently show that the vast majority of Venezeula’s people (about 80%) support Chavez’s policies of wealth redistribution. The one who don’t are those having their wealth redistributed. Tough luck for them.
I do sympathise with “Concerned”, though. After all, I am sitting here in the conmfort of my armchair while he appears to be writing whilst under fire in the deep jungle. The fact that he actually sounds like he is writing from an even more comfortable home in one of Caracas’s penthouses is, I am sure, misleading, much like his tendentious e-mail. And I do hope his cheque from Langley arrives soon.