Hugo Chavez and the Bush Trip to Latin America
By Chad A. B. Wilson
Published March 8, 2007, 3:25 pm in News, Economic Issues.
I'm going to try to avoid negativity today.
Yep, I won't talk about how Dick Cheney tried to control the media. About how the most Libby trial pointed out that the most powerful vice president of the history of the United States would get furious and write "unacceptable" across negative publicity.
I also won't talk about how Rudy Giuliani's three marriages will come back to bite him with conservatives. Or how his estrangement from his kids makes the Southern Baptist convention know nuts. Forget his stance on gay rights and abortion; it's his personal life that will make them discount him.
I won't say anything about Edwards's refusal to debate in a forum cosponsored by Fox News. I won't talk about what in God's green earth made the Nevada Democrats to partner with Fox in the first place or why I think Edwards is stupid for not agreeing to do it.
I definitely won't say anything about Alberto Gonzales and the firing of eight national prosecutors. Or about how Democrats and now Republicans alike are charging that the firings were probably unjustifiable political actions, not because of performance.
I probably won't mention Bush's statement that he is "pretty much going to stay out of" the case of Scooter Libby. Or how he will wait until after the entire trial is over to pardon him, or maybe not pardon him as the case may be. Or about how this will be a terrible misuse of power and a great injustice.
I won't make any promises about not talking about the Democrats' plan to pull out of Iraq. Although there is a chance I won't discuss it, I want to really badly. What a bunch of dolts they are, but heck, they were for it before they were against it, right?
I may end up saying something about Petraeus, even though I don't want to. It may be unavoidable not to bring up his statement that there is no military solution to Iraq, or about how it about time someone said it.
I may have to say something, too, about the North Carolina lawsuit against the State Medical Board, who recently made a ruling that effectively made the death penalty illegal. I'm not against the medical board; I'm against the people against them.
Washington V. Bolivar
You know what I will talk about, though? Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan dictator, I mean president. Dang it, I tipped my hand too early.
With George Bush's visit to Latin America, we need to be prepared for some more Chavez antics. What we're really looking at here is a clash of reform--the Washington Consensus versus the Bolivarian Revolution or Bolivar Plan.
The Washington Consensus is the reform plan adopted by the IMF, the World Bank, and the U.S. Treasury Department that is designed to make the developing nation into a free market economy like a developed nation. In theory, the Consensus will stimulate the economy and bring the nation a stable economy. That means not only money but education, healthcare, and their positive ilk. Whether the Washington Consensus actually brings those things may be a different story.
Chavez's Bolivar Plan is the opposite--a socialist system designed to help the poor. And God knows, there is a lot of it in Venezuela. According to one source, 44% of Venezuela’s GDP went to social programs, all those things the Washington Consensus was designed to protect, as well. Whether he has actually done this may be debatable, too. It's a nice thought, though. Spend your country's money on your country, and the people will do well. Interesting.
Chavez's antics outside of Venezuela are the really interesting.
First, there is Chavez with OPEC. This guy wants tighter restriction. Basically, he wants to be able to control oil prices. And he has done a good job of it, wanting even to decrease production more so that prices stay inflated. That's why so many people in the U.S. were calling for boycotting certain gas stations that get their oil from Venezuela. Does anyone remember that from last summer? I wonder if people still won't buy from those stations because of Chavez...or maybe they don't even remember why...
And then there was the famous speech before the U.N. in September 2006. You gotta remember this one, the one where he called George Bush the "devil" and said he could still smell the sulfur from where he spoke the day before? The one where he praised Noam Chomsky as one of the world's leading academics?
That's all good, I guess, but I wonder what will happen as Bush tours Latin America. Chavez has made a lot of headway in foreign relations over the last few years, so that a good deal of South America seems to support him. What we should be looking for here is a debate between socialism and capitalism. Which one works better for developing nations? Is there a way to judge them fairly? How should that be done? What markers indicate which is better, and how those can those factors be judged independent of other outside interference such as crummy dictators?
Even though the free market economy may be the only sustaining one for developed nations, there is still some debate about developing ones. Are socialistic aspects good for a developing country? Can they be combined with a free market economy?
I hope you enjoyed my positive rant for today. My refusal to say anything negative, that is. But don't get used to it. Politics is all about criticism, after all, and a political column is nothing but whining.
Maybe next time I will be really positive and discuss the merits of socialism.
Nah, probably not.
Comments & Trackbacks
By Walker Dollahon
March 17, 2007, 8:59 am. PermaLink
Chavez has a pathological need to ridicule Bush and say outrageous things to get into the press. He should not be taken seriously. I really do believe he needs counseling. Why would a man of 52 behave like he lives on a public school play ground. Bush is smart to ignore him.
And to think that he's the executive of a large and important country....
He is slowly but surely killing democracy in Venezuela....
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