Venezuela's Government

Venezuela’s Government

When I thought about which topics I wanted to blog about, I thought about governments, because it’s something we’re discussing in class and it’s very linked to economics (my favorite topic). But, what could I possibly talk about? We all know what governments are for, and although communism is something I’m not a very huge fan of, I didn’t want to blog about it. Instead, I found a type of government that’s sort of communist but with other perspectives that can only be seen in one country of this huge world: Venezuela.

Hugo Chávez was elected President in 1998 with a campaign centering on promises of aiding Venezuela's poor majority, and was reelected in 2000 and in 2006. Chávez's policies have evoked controversy in Venezuela and abroad, receiving everything from vehement criticism to enthusiastic support.

I’m one of those vehement critics. Although I’m not an expert in the subject (I don’t even get close to that), I have heard enough from this man to be against his point of view. My best friend’s dad was born in Venezuela and studied there before coming to Mexico. He has talked about how bad his country is falling, he talks about how poor people are going, he talks about the fear that citizens are experiencing, and about how the media is controlling everybody.
Chávez “promotes” a political doctrine of participatory democracy, socialism and Latin American and Caribbean cooperation. He is a critic of neoliberalism, globalization, and United States foreign policy.

I don’t think a country can be powerful and fully developed if its government doesn’t believe in globalization because it is the latest tendency and perhaps the most important to be fully inside the best market. What can a country do without a universal policy for importing and exporting products? What can a country do if it's against the world's most powerful contry? I think Chavez is mostly interested in his own benefits (like most politicians) rather than on his country’s progress. I believe that he’s starting with a dictatorship that will last decades and decades, maybe following Fidel Castros’ example. I don’t think that a dictatorship is something good for a country, but neither have I thought that changing from leader too often is the best thing to do.

As a conclusion, I’d like to say that I think somebody or some organization should stop Chávez from what he’s doing to his people. I think that there are numbers and statistics that can prove that the country is going worse and worse with each year that passes. I think that people shouldn’t be afraid of him because, although he has powerful weapons, he’s just a man like all of us, and they should demand a non-reelection policy to stop him from continuing ruining this beautiful place.