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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| How Venezuelans View Hugo Chavez and America |
| 2007-08-16 |
| Contrary to what Americans hear constantly from the media, Venezuelans have a poor opinion of their president, Hugo Chavez, and a positive opinion of Americans and the United States. As a senior Venezuelan currently living in the U.S. while keeping up-to-date with Venezuelan affairs (I am also a former member of the Venezuelan congress), I have come to accept that Venezuela generally merits little attention from U.S. society, except in three or four areas: baseball players, beautiful women, oil and the antics of Hugo Chavez. Hugo Chavez’ September 2006 UN speech in which he called President Bush a “devil” and spoke aggressively against the United States, helped to push Chavez and Venezuela, even if negatively, onto the American consciousness. Due to this speech, millions of U.S. citizens felt curious enough to do some research on Chavez and learned, for example, that Citgo, the chain of corner gas stations, is really a major oil company owned by the Venezuelan government and being used by Chavez to make inroads into American domestic politics. Americans also learned that Chavez loved Saddam Hussein and now calls Iranian President Ahmadinejad and Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe "brothers." However, few still know that his buddies in the U.S. include: • actor Danny Glover, who received $18 million from Chavez to make a movie. Glover has been known to compare Chavez to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.;The intense propaganda machine installed by Chavez in the U.S. (that costs the Venezuelan Embassy well over a million dollars per year) is trying to sell U.S. public opinion on the idea that Hugo Chavez is universally loved by Venezuelans while the United States is bitterly hated. In fact, neither of these two claims is correct, judging by all credible polls, both in Venezuela and outside the country. In Venezuela the most professional and respected polling company, Hinterlaces, produced its poll for the month of June, with a 95% reliability. Some of the results are quite interesting: • Hugo Chavez is rejected by 43% of those polled and approved of by 39%;According to the survey by Hinterlaces, the political style of Hugo Chavez is starting to rub Venezuelans the wrong way, since he is increasingly being perceived as a dictator. A poll conducted by a reputed Chilean company, Latinobarometro, in January 2007, indicated that Venezuelans clearly prefer democracy to any other political system. This poll also revealed that Hugo Chavez had a very low approval rating in Latin America, only better than Cuba's Fidel Castro and Peru's Alan Garcia. The highest ranked Latin American leader in this poll was Brazil's Lula da Silva, followed by Chile's Michelle Bachelet, Colombia's Alvaro Uribe and Argentina's Nestor Kirchner, while Hugo Chavez, Alan Garcia and Fidel Castro were at the very bottom of the ladder. Pew Global Attitudes Poll, issued in June 2007, surveyed the views on the U.S. in 47 countries, including Venezuela. While it is true that the U.S. image in Latin America has deteriorated, the clear majority of respondents in countries such as Mexico, Peru and, yes, Venezuela, expressed a positive opinion about their northern neighbor. In fact, it might come as a surprise to many Americans that more Venezuelans (56%) thought favorably about the U.S. than did the British (52%), the Swedes (46%) and the French (39%). While 71% of Venezuelans enjoyed U.S. music and movies, only 63% of the British shared their enthusiasm. At the same time, 76% of Venezuelans professed admiration for U.S. science and education, while 74% of the British did. Venezuelan opinion of the U.S. was much more favorable than that of most European countries. The picture Venezuelans have formed of Hugo Chavez and of the U.S, according to these polls, is not the picture Hugo Chavez's propaganda machine in Washington is trying to sell to American public opinion. The positive sentiment that Venezuelans have about the United States appears to be culturally driven, not political. Not since the times of Venezuelan President Romulo Betancourt and President Kennedy, a team that made possible the end of dictatorships in the Western Hemisphere and the success of the Alliance for Progress, have there been warm relations between the political leadership of both countries. The U.S. should consider taking the initiative to work with the Venezuelan people, through organizations of civil society, to promote the conversion of more Venezuelans into productive citizens. The Venezuelan population is highly dependent on a paternalistic, authoritarian state and cannot prosper without a critical mass of self-starting citizens. Such an initiative could create new good will for the U.S. in my country. Gustavo Coronel is a petroleum geologist, author and public policy expert, who was elected to the Venezuelan Congress in 1998 before it was dissolved in 1999 following the election of Hugo Chavez as president. Coronel is currently designated as an "enemy" of the Chavez regime. |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #5 Contrary to what Americans hear constantly from the media, Venezuelans have a poor opinion of their president, Hugo Chavez, and a positive opinion of Americans and the United States. Hey, just like all the informed citizens of the world, AMERICANS ARE OK, REMEMBER..... they're far more altruistic than anyone else on the planet, even after hearing all the stories, once they meet some, they are in awe of Americans, we're just like that.... They marvel at the fact that we're such independent thinkers, and christians, even if we dont think we are, we are CHRISTIAN, through and through, no getting away from it, it's ingrained in us and makes us a likable bunch on the whole. |
| Posted by: Pheaper Sinatra3986 2007-08-16 23:19 |
| #4 Because the 10th Congressional District has been Gerrymandered (Gerry Studds, Elbridge Gerry). The South Shore and Cape vote Red, purple at worst. They have been blended with the welfare districts of Quincy, New Bedford, Fall River. Delacunt wins because of public sectah union votahs in Quincy, and technically ineligible voters on the South Coast. He is a disgrace and NEVER shows his face in the red communities. William Delacunt, D - Hedonism II. |
| Posted by: Rude Laugh 2007-08-16 22:52 |
| #3 IIRC, Jimmuh had a lot to do with the last time, Glaque. Wonder what size "donation" appeared at his "library"? |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2007-08-16 19:16 |
| #2 so why do they keep electing the putz? |
| Posted by: Glaque Johnson9083 2007-08-16 18:04 |
| #1 Joe K and Suntan Billy. I figured their names would be on the list. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-08-16 14:50 |