Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

I’ve been meaning for awhile to post about the latest brand of despots who’ve emerged in recent years, chief among them Vladimir Putin and Hugo Chavez. (North Korea’s Kim Jung Il is defiantly old school and in a kooky class by himself.) Like many of the tyrants who’ve emerged over the centuries (particularly the 20th), they’ve used the guise of nationalism to consolidate power. And like many of their predecessors, they initially rise to power under legitimate means, usually by election.

In some ways, my feeling is that these countries get what they deserve--while I recognize that there usually isn’t often much choice, and it may be a matter of voting for the devil you know, by the same token, it’s hard for me to be sympathetic to an electorate that votes wholly for nationalistic or tribal reasons. While I certainly can’t pretend to understand the thinking of your average Third World citizen, given the lessons of history, I can’t believe these electorates actually don’t know what their voting for.

Chavez, in particular, appears to be the most transparent and a real live cannon. Emboldened by petro dollars (like Putin), he likes to throw his weight around and so obviously craves personal power.

So I must say it was quite a delight to watch Chavez get slapped down by the Valenzuelan people in the recent elections which would have, among other things, extended the President’s term of office and done away with term limits, essentially making him president for life.

It appears the honeymoon is over. Even many of Chavez’s supporters saw through transparent attempts to consolidate control and make the state more authoritarian. More importantly, however, the emptiness of Chavez’s rhetoric is beginning to show through. Despite the nation’s oil wealth and the largesse he has shown throughout the region to buy friends, little of that appears to have trickled down. While Chavez does provide handouts to the poorest in the country who constitute his largest supporters, he has done nothing to create opportunities or economic growth that would truly lift the masses and the country. And, apparently, crime in the country remains rampant, partly it is reported because Chavez is reluctant to move on those areas from where his strongest support comes. And, of course, his family and cronies have benefited greatly from his presidency.

Mark my words, like all good lunatic dictators, Chavez will pursue some other extra-constitutional way to achieve his authoritarian goals. Whether the Venezuelan people have the will and the unity to stand up to him when that day comes remains to be seen. But at least Chavez is now weakened and the opposition has been emboldened.