While I am not from SA, I have recently been talking to a coworker of mine from Venezuela about what he thinks about Chavez.
He thinks that Chavez is a crazy man, and his policies are designed to help the poor while letting the middle and upper class deteriorate. He told me
that in Venezuela only the poor are happy with the situation, because of the food and money they recieve from the government.
Granted this is just one person, and he could be exagerating because he's not sure why I'm asking, and he knows the prevailing attitude about Chavez
in the US. I will talk with him further next week and hopefully be able to post further on his perspective.
Personally most of what I find on the Internet is propaganda from anti or pro chavez sites. I find it hard to find unbiased information on what is
going on there. I do find his tendencies towards totalitarian measures to be disturbing. Ruling by decree temporarily, blacking out news, and
allying with Iran and Cuba are the things that I find disturbing.
At the same time, he seems to be helping the poor and trying to establish his country as self sufficient, which are good things. Even if he is going
about it the wrong way, his goals are admirable. It would be great if his policies were aimed at establishing a strong middle class instead of a
welfare state IMHO.
On human rights issues.
I did find quite a bit of complaints on Amnesty Internationals website. In this case I would think AI would be unbiased as they certainly aren't in
the Bush administrations pockets, and are left-leaning.
www.amnestyusa.org...
amnestyusa.org
Venezuela: Respect for human rights must be guaranteed
The authorities must ensure protection of human rights of all citizens in the increasingly violent political climate surrounding the decision of the
National Electoral Commission expected today, Amnesty International said today.
At least three people were killed and up to 50 injured, including two journalists, over the weekend in the context of clashes between National Guard
and Anti and Pro government demonstrators. There have been allegations of excessive use of force, in particular by the National Guard, while policing
these demonstrations, some of which were reportedly violent. Heavily armed military and civilian intelligence units also reportedly participated in
policing operations. There have also reportedly been a number of detentions of opposition supporters during opposition demonstrations in different
parts of the country.
While I may dislike some of Chavez politics, he is certainly no Hitler. It will be troubling if he is made president for the next 25 years.
Democracy needs checks and balances to thrive, and in an area were corruption is rampant, having one party in control for 25 years with no elections
is pretty much the same as dictatorship. Benevolent or not, most dictatorships end badly.
mod edit to shorten link
[edit on 18-4-2006 by DontTreadOnMe]