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But I wouldn't expect anything less from Hugo. He's a courageous man and an upbeat lover of people. Always has been, always will be. The assholes who have tried to turn him into a bogeyman "dictator" have never been able to get past his actual personality, which has nothing dictatorial in it. He is open and friendly. He has nothing to hide. This is so obvious in his face and in the way he moves and relates to others, that the "dictator" concoction simply won't stick. So they've had to come up with other "talking points"--"terrorist lover" and "incompetent" being the latest efforts. But those don't hold up either. Did he befriend the president of Iran? Yup. But Iran is not a "terrorist" state and has not aggressed against anyone. (Can the U.S. say the same?) And then Brazil's president also befriended the president of Iran. As for "incompetence," Venezuela was just designated "THE most equal country in Latin America," on income distribution, by the UN Economic Commission on Latin America and the Caribbean, reflective of the highly competent accomplishment of cutting poverty in Venezuela by half and extreme poverty by over 70%.
But of all the crap written about Chavez in the corpo-fascist press and by CIA scribblers, the "dictator" meme has always struck me as the most absurd. Would a "dictator" go around bald from chemotherapy and try to convey his cheerfulness to others? He has too much self-deprecating irony, in his personality, and too much concern for how others FEEL, to be a "dictator." This has been evident all along. I don't even need all the facts that I have at my command that establish Venezuela as one of the best democracies in the Americas. I can SEE that he is not a "dictator" by the way he looks at people and reaches out to people. There is nothing phony about it, such as we see in our airbrushed politicians. Yes, he's a strong president, but so was FDR. Strength in a leftist leader--a representative of the great majority--is good, not bad. Look what's happened to us, for the lack of such strong leftist leadership! Is he wily, clever, sometimes a bit high-handed, sometimes clownishly full of himself? Yup--he's a politician and very good at it. Does he talk too much? Yup--though that's better in a leader than being secretive and taciturn, so people don't know what your policies really are. Chavez is the opposite--he's "out there." People know exactly what he's thinking. He loves communicating--especially about policy, and it's not empty "communicating" as with Reagan, it's substantive communication, on the nuts and bolts of policy and all of its implications. He wants people to know what he thinks and what he'd doing--wants it with passion. That is simply not the profile of a "dictator." He also wants people to vote and participate, and often puts things to a vote of the people--seeking their approval, wanting them to understand, educating people, involving people. Would a "dictator" do that?
Anyway, he seems to be handling his illness like he has handled everything else--after he got over the first shock, in Cuba (he was a bit secretive at first, but then it took a while for doctors to make the prognosis)--openly, cheerfully and I think with regard for others who have suffered the same thing. Whether he intends that or not, it comes naturally to him to be open, and it is, indeed, helpful to many people, when leaders and celebrities admit to their illnesses. It helps people suffering from illnesses and treatments feel less lonely, less scared. If Big Hugo can go around with a bald head and a laugh, it likely cheers up a lot of people. I admire him for not trying to cover this up. And it's so typical of him. He's had a bull's eye target on his back throughout his political career--and still he's cheerful. A pretty amazing guy. And pretty amazing people--Venezuelans--for having recognized his genius and for standing by him and his government through thick and thin, through media slander and coup d'etat. Their assessment is the one that counts. The funny part is imagining voluble, opinionated, street-wise, highly independent, proud, staunchly democratic, gun-toting Venezuelans tolerating a "dictator." (They really are gun-crazy, alas.)
The truth is that the only "dictating" Chavez has ever done has been to Exxon Mobil execs, and they will never forgive him for it.
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