#ElmundoestaconChavez. When the news broke on Sunday that Hugo Chavez the charismatic president of Venezuela was temporarily stepping down from office to undergo radical cancer treatment in Cuba alarm bells went off. And although his fourth surgery seems to have gone relatively well the nation is justifiably worried. Chavez was just re-elected in October to another 6 year term by a wide margin and his popularity remains incredibly high. However with elections in 23 states on Sunday and a potential power struggle amongst elites in his government should he step down permanently Venezuelan politics could see a radical shift in the coming months. However, the biggest question hanging over the region isn’t simply what happens to Venezuela if Chavez is gone for good, but who in the region will stand up encroaching power grabs by the United States.
When Chavez came to power in Venezuela in 1999 he already has the resume of charismatic leader. He had been born into poverty and grew up desperately seeking to change the oligarchy that squandered the wealth of South America’s most oil rich nation. After a failed coup attempt and two years in prison he ran for office and the rest has been history. In a stark contrast to the neo-con policies of most other South and Central American nations Chavez Socialist party has openly nationalized businesses deemed unfair to labor, used vast oil profits to lift people out of poverty and given generously to other nations across the world for humanitarian aid.
However Chavez biggest impact has really been in establishing Venezuela as a real power player in South America when facing the United States. He openly criticized George W. Bush and his wars in the Middle East. He famously tried to play Barack Obama at the Summit of the Americas in 2009 and has relentlessly criticized White House actions in South America. Chavez stands as essentially the only voice in South America to stand against American businesses policies of using the lower hemisphere as a cheap source of labor and a petri dish for environmentally dangerous mining and labor practices. While his chosen successor, Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro, is popular with the base, he can’t possibly match the international charisma of Chavez. There aren’t many presidents popular enough to host their own television shows where they sing and dance and drop policy knowledge. Furthermore National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello also has designs on power and despite Chavez chosen successor there is likely to be a fight for power is a retiring Chavez forces the nation into constitutionally mandated election within 30 days.
Experts say that based on public announcements by Chavez it is unlikely he can fully recover from the type of cancer that he has. Unfortunately, sooner rather than later Venezuela will likely be thrown into political chaos. One of the few powerful leftist voices in the South, not to mention one of the most generous and Democratic OPEC nations in the world will fall silent on the national stage. For all of his flaws, we should hope that Chavez recovers the alternatives for labor, regional stability and the economy of the Western hemisphere may depend on it.
DR. JASON JOHNSON, Politic365 Chief Political Correspondent, is a professor of Political Science at Hiram College in Ohio and author of the book Political Consultants and Campaigns: One Day to Sell. You can read more at www.drjasonjohnson.com or follow him on Twitter @Drjasonjohnson
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Any president can host their own television show if he forces every channel to carry out the show! Give the people a choice to either watch it or not and you’ll see much different results.
Yea right tell me anything! You people make me sick just lie there was weapons of mass destruction! Do any of you life in Venezuela! so what about the Trillions of dollars obama and bush fucked up! What about this weekend the the mass killings and all of the ugliest crimes in the world come out of america! I say the Newtown killings was justice! For all the killings of innocent children around the war! The US is #1 in Violent crimes in the world! Marjory of blacks in the US live in conditions of people in 3rd world countries! I am a black that was born and raised in america! I say Fuck america on the Whole God BLESS HUGO CHAVEZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Violence is a shortsighted solution when it really comes to handling your enemies,there is a better way to go about it,smarter ways. Killing innocent lives is not justice,it is just a horrendus and senseless masacre. Please refrain for saying idiotic and pathetic things. We are talking about Venezuelan politics,it has nothing to do w/ killing innocent children.
Dr. Johnson, you might be a profesor of Political Science at Hiram College in Ohio , but with all due respect, you have no knowledge whatsover of the political situation in Venezuela. Chávez and his deputies have squandered $970 BILLION DOLLARS! in 14 years. Poverty has increased, health care is a joke, crime rate is higher than any country in the world, there is power and water shortage every day in the interior of the country and last but not least, quality of life has decreased so much that there are children living on the streets. Chávez and his ministries are reminiscent of the old kings of France, he eats and lives like a king while most venezuelan live in shags. Now, that the man is dying, Nicolás Maduro, a bus driver, who always was skipping work, has been selected by Chávez to take over. Let me tell you, I am not degrating or belittling the bus driver profession per se, but like Chávez, this individual is not qualified to be president, even less to lead Venezuela to a better future. Next time you decide to opine about Venezuela political situation, don’t believe everything you are being told. Just go to Venezuela and blend with the crowd, spend time there. I bet, in a few days, you would be able to realize, what a once beautiful country, has become under Chávez administration. Take care and God bless!