by Bart Jones
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Product Description
Ruling elites in Venezuela, the United States and Europe, and even Hugo Chávez himself though for different reasons, have been eager to have the world view him as the heir to Fidel Castro. But the truth about this increasingly influential world leader is more complex, and more interesting.. The Chávez that emerges from Bart Jones’ carefully researched and documented biography is neither a plaster saint nor a revolutionary tyrant. He has an undeniably autocratic streak, and yet has been freely and fairly re-elected to his nations presidency three times with astonishing margins of victory. He is a master politician and an inspired improviser, a Bolivarian nationalist and an unashamed socialist. His policies have brought him into conflict with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and major oil companies. They have also provided a model for new governments and social movements in Ecuador, Bolivia, and Argentina. When in September 2006 he declared at the United Nations that ‘the devil came here yesterday … the President of the United States’, it was clear that he was taking on challenging the most powerful nation on earth, in conscious imitation of the Liberator, Simon Bolivar.
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Average Customer Review:
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent biography of a democrat, 2008-09-03
Bart Jones lived and worked in Venezuela for eight years and had unprecedented access to its president, Hugo Chavez.
Latin America's income per head grew by 82% between 1960 and 1980, before the IMF policies, but only by 10% between 1980 and 2005 under IMF policies. In 1989, the previous president, Carlos Perez, ordered the army into Caracas, killing more than a thousand people, in food riots triggered by price rises ordered by the IMF.
Chavez won the presidency in 1998 with 56% of the votes. Jones writes, "He was elected in free and fair elections, and won three more referenda to write and approve a new constitution. The jails held no political prisoners. No opposition parties were outlawed. No newspapers, television networks, or radio stations were censored, even though the majority were virulently opposed to Chavez. ... No media outlets were closed or reporters jailed." Even US Ambassador John Maisto said of Chavez's rule, "no one can question its democratic legitimacy."
However, the US state has been ruthlessly hostile to Chavez, which only shows that the US state's primary commitment is to capitalism, not to democracy. The US government knew in advance and approved the April 2002 coup against his government. The US Agency for International Development had given opposition groups, including the coup plotters, $26 million.
Metropolitan Police and snipers fired on both pro- and anti-Chavez marchers. The coup plotters taped, in advance, a statement that marchers had been killed, accusing Chavez. Coup leader Pedro Carmona shut down the Congress and the Supreme Court, tore up the constitution and sacked every elected official from the attorney-general to state governors to local mayors. Carmona's first visitor was US ambassador Charles Shapiro.
Chavez won the 2004 recall referendum with 59% of the votes and in 2006 he won a new six-year term with 63% of the votes. He is popular because his policies genuinely benefit the majority of the people. His government has cut poverty from 43% to 33%. The Mision Milagro flies patients to Cuba for free eye surgery. Venezuela's health spending per head rose by 74% between 1999 and 2005. Before land reform, 2% of the population owned 60% of the land and Venezuela imported 70% of its food. By 2007 the government had distributed nine million acres of idle land to 130,000 families.
Chavez's government continues to work for the people of Venezuela, ensuring their right to control their country's resources. On 1 May 2007, the government took majority control over oil projects from ExxonMobil, Chevron, Conoco and Total.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
HUGO AND HUEY LONG, 2008-06-08
Bart Jones, in my opinion, wrote one of the best biographies about a man who might lead South America in a revolution that will upset or at least seriously impress all of us. As he makes very clear, Hugo Chavez is brillent, sleeps little, moves around a lot with restless energy, has a definate goal, an admirable goal, and is on his way to reaching it.
But there is another side to Mr. Chavez.
I recommend that Mr. Jones read the life of Huey Long, who came from an immodest background in Lousiana, surrounded by the poor an oppressed, worked his way through enough college to meet his needs and was on his way to making a serious run for the U.S. presidency, all for the successful work he did for the poor. And he did a lot. But his passion was for power, not just helping the poor.
The depression produced a lot of these guys, the ones in Itly and Germany come to mind.
Being dedicated to the poor can be dangerous.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Chavez--Minus Smoke and Mirrors, 2008-03-26
We have been receiving a one-dimensional, Bush Administration-driven perspective on Hugo Chavez. Bart Jones paints a complete picture of this Venezuelan Abe Lincoln. It helps us ordinary readers to remember that we certainly have no reason to dislike a man just because he is unpopular with the rich and influential. Jones's experience as a Maryknoll missioner and an AP reporter in Venezuela give him the depth of knowledge and discernment necessary to dissect a complex figure such as Hugo Chavez.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
A wonderful book, 2008-03-17
Since retirement a couple of years ago, I have read over a hundred books on Latin America, and political science...subjects I never studied in college. This is one book I place near the top of the list. It is accurate, unbias, and reads like a great novel. If only people could/would take time to become better informed, we could have a better world. By the way, another good book on Hugo Chavez is by Nikolas Kozloff.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Power to the people, right on, 2008-01-13
Journalist Bart Jones's detail-laden HUGO! tells the story of Venezuela president Hugo Chavez, the complete story that America's corporate "news" media ignores. And reading the HUGO! passage regarding the Venezuelan people's demand for Chavez's release after moneyed interests overthrow his administration in 2002, you realize this book also tells the story of that South American country's citizens. World history is nothing more than the wealthy few attempting to steal from and dominate the poor masses. In Venezuela, the rise of Hugo Chavez personifies the people establishing democracy, the most radical notion in humanity's chronicles.
Read HUGO!
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