Hugo Chavez: The Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela

The only first-hand report on contemporary Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, by veteran correspondent Richard Gott, places the country's controversial and charismatic president in historical perspective, and examines his plans and programs. This new edition has a chapter on the attempted and failed military coup, Venezuela's recent recall election, and discusses US covert intervention against this democratically elected public official.

The spectre of Simon Bolívar hovers once again over Latin America as the aims and ambitions of the Liberator are taken up by Comandante Hugo Chávez. Welcomed by the inhabitants of the teeming shantytowns of Caracas as their potential savior, and greeted by Washington with considerable alarm, this former golpista-turned-democrat has already begun the most wide-ranging transformation of oil-rich Venezuela for half a century, and dramatically affected the political debate throughout Latin America.

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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Gott's Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution, 2007-11-16
After viewing the spat between Chavez and Spain's King Juan Carlos on TV last week, where the latter told Chavez to "Shut the f....k up!" with the former replying in the same coin, there can be no doubt who this young revolutionary army leader's, now President (what for his 3rd term?) hero and role model is: the old dying Leftist Caudillo himself, Fidel Castro. Richard Gott's book on 'Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela', Verso, 2005, that he has unleashed locally, and regionally - by alliances with Evo Morales in Bolivia and now with Ecuador, shifts Gott's focus from Cuba to the Latin American continent. He painstakingly and meticulously uncovers the layers of skin (that of a `mixed-blood' mestizo, with an Afro-American heritage) that is the epidermis of this charismatic young leader, so reminiscent of Abdul Gammal Nasser and the `Young Turks' in Iraq and the Middle East of the 1950s, and the officers' movement that overthrew the aging Portuguese dictatorship in 1974. The parallels are clear and Gott does well to remind us of both their potentialities and limitations, their unstable social bases, their populist appeals and their shifting day-to-day politics. Who is the real Hugo Chavez and when will he emerge? This seems to be the question many still ask. Gott traces the attempted coup against him in 2002 and its aftermath, not a blood-bath as the Right feared but an unusual 'negotiated settlement'. Chavez's moves between many political registers but has yet to anchor his Bolivarian Movement in a party that can represent his ideas for change. Or does he not need one? Gott has done his usual well-polished job here and we await with anticipation the outcomes of the titanic test of strength between Chavez's Bolivarians and their powerful rivals, local and abroad. He is still reliant on the huge oil-sales to the US for revenue and his revolutionary rhetoric seems only to have ruffled the feathers of those in power in the White House, whoever that may be after the coming election. What will happen when Fidel joins Che et al in the great revolutionaries graveyard in the sky- will he take over their mantle? A topical book and a topical leader. Well, recommended as there is no other of its type available really


0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

A useful but biased read. , 2007-07-12
Gott's it is definitely not an unbiased and balance account, but it is one that would help you get the other view (although a tainted one some times). The book's alleged factual information is not accurate and its narrations are simplistic many times. The book lacks research and depth. For example a key event like the Coup de etat of April 11, 2002, has a very simplistic linear argument with a lot of controversial interpretations of the events, just read "Venezuela's 2002 Coup Revisited: The Evidence Two Years On By Francisco Toro" (you can Google it on the web). The later does allow the reader to realize how complex were the events that date and how much is still not clear. The Book editorial work was also lax, for example Heinz Dieterich Steffan is introduced as an Argentinean journalist, when he is German sociologist professor at the UAM in Mexico. This sort of mistakes undermines the book's credibility. However, the authors close encounters with Chavez are interesting enough to make the book an amenable read.
Not withstanding, Gott does have insight on the region and is not as partisan as to be blind. Many of the criticisms he makes about the region are in many respects accurate and he has been following the region for many years. He has also shown he can do better research and more balance accounts of the events as he does in his Cuba: A New History; were at its end he writes a compelling portrait of the unjust and difficult conditions for Castro Cuba's opposition primordial organizations.



1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

A remarkable account of an extraordinary leader, 2007-05-12
A very well written book that reviews the life and achievements of one of the most controversial leaders of our time. Hugo Chavez is a remarkable revolutionist who the world is paying. This book reveals why the world needs to pay attention to the extraordinary Venezuelan leader.


3 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

Not very thorough, 2007-04-14
If you are thinking of buying this book, there are a few things to be aware of.

(1) This book is biased. Mr Gott lavishes endless praise on Mr Chavez & it is clear where he stands in the fight for Venezuela's future. When it comes time to be critical of laws that endanger press freedom in Venezuela, Mr Gott does not criticize on the grounds that similar laws are in place in Western Europe. I understand everyone has their politics and that to some extent that will influence their writing, but Mr Gott goes overboard with his; the result is a book that may inaccurately depict Venezuela.
(2) This book is more about Chavez than about Venezuela. I was expecting a book that detailed recent Venezuelan history and while there is no doubt that Chavez has played a large role in it, this book was too Chavez-centric for me. Rarely did he focus on events that did not involve Chavez as the protagonist. I suspect that this contributed to the book lacking depth.
(3) This book does not have much depth. After reading Hugh Thomas' book on Cuba (Cuba: The Pursuit of Freedom), which is written by a scholar with the depth and the extensive footnotes one should expect, I was sorely disappointed by Gott's book. There are no footnotes, so you don't know the sources of his information, although there is a bibliography in it. Perhaps if you are using this book as a way to get your footing on recent Venezuelan history, it is worthwhile, but if you are looking to use this book as a starting point for in-depth research, you will be disappointed.
(4) This book leaves off in late-2004. I knew that when I bought it, so I wasn't surprised. But if you are looking to learn about modern-day Venezuela, be aware that much has changed in these last two years. You will need to fill that in for yourself... So, unless you have the research systems (e.g., Lexis Nexis, Academic Databases, etc.) or the time to read newspapers/article online, you'll walk away with an outdated perspective on a rapidly changing country. Heck, I bought this book two weeks ago and in the last few days, there have already been major changes in Venezuela.

My recommendation: Buy this book if you want a shallow treatment of recent Venezuelan history. If you'd prefer something a little more thorough, try looking elsewhere. Or even better, if you've got the brains and time, do the research yourself. You'll no doubt understand the country better and probably with more depth than if you simply read this book.


4 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

One of the few we have but be careful...., 2007-04-13
This book provides one of the few looks that we have of Hugo Chavez. His dictatorship in Venezuela is one of the more unique in the world especially when analyzing his power base. A word of caution when reading this book however is that Gott is fiercely anti-American so a lot of the book is taken up with his rabid viewpoints. It is still one of the best portraits we have of Chavez and if you can look past the anti-American bias the book is very useful. If you want to learn about modern Venezuela you really can't go wrong with this book.

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