Why Hugo Chávez is an illegitimate President (More anti-Chavez Propaganda)

[tritsofme]

June 10, 2005 | Many world governments, even democratic ones, still consider the Venezuelan regime of Hugo Chávez to be legitimate. Although they are increasingly aware of the authoritarian and repressive nature of the regime, they justify their diplomatic accommodation by claiming that Chávez came into power through elections. For too many years now, the definition of political legitimacy has rested exclusively on the manner in which political power was obtained. Transparent elections seem to be all that was needed for a government to be classified as legitimate. Political scientists now tell us that such a definition is highly inadequate. Legitimacy requires much more than elections. A document published by the United Nations Development Program ( Democracy in Latin America, UNDP, 2004) argues that countries need to progress from electoral democracy to a citizen’s democracy. The true democratic nature of a government and its degree of legitimacy have to be tested against a set of criteria, such as the ones listed by the United Nations Commission of Human Rights in 1999, which include:


* Freedom of opinion, of expression and of association
* The rule of law, equal for all citizens
* Universal and equal suffrage
* Political participation, with equal opportunity for all
* Transparent and accountable government institutions
* Equal access to public services.


I have no doubt in my mind that the regime of Hugo Chávez fails this test for legitimacy and should be classified as illegitimate by international organizations such as the U.N. and the O.A.S.

This belief is based on my analysis of the Venezuelan situation during the years under Chávez rule. It is, of course, a subjective analysis, but is largely backed by facts. Let us take a look:


Sources of political legitimacy

1. Free and Fair Elections.
<SNIP>

http://www.vcrisis.com/index.php?content=letters/200506101611

These guys are losing their stranglehold on Latin America, and there's not a damn thing that can be done about it. We see it in Venezuela, and recently in Bolivia.

I wonder how many of these standards the United States would measure up to???

[EFerrari]

1. That's an easy one. None of them. We don't even

have transparent elections.

I hope these idiots keep attacking Chavez in the press. It'll make our job so much easier.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Hey, could THIS country pass the democracy "sniff" test since 2000?

I don't think so. This is not a legitimate government and it's not getting any better.

[Vladimir]

3. Equal access to public services?

yeah, like any pre-Chavez government could have ever passed that one, when you had to pay for the most basic health-care.

As a reminder, here are some articles on Venezuelan health care since Chavez took over. The picture one gets is indeed of equal access to public services - unfortunately here equal access also means for the poor and non-white, which clearly bothers the crap-peddlers at vcrisis.

Venezuela Brings Health Care to the Communities: http://www.rethinkvenezuela.com/downloads/healthcare.htm

A people's health system: http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2004/610/610p21.htm

Who's Afraid Of Venezuela-Cuba Alliance: http://207.44.245.159/article8260.htm

Grassroots Organising Ensures Health Care for Neighborhoods: http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=27200

Cuban Doctors in Venezuela Operate Free Neighborhood Clinics: http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1041