Roger Cohen, writing at the New York Times, points out the similarity of Hugo Chavez to Spanish fascists. But in the end, a totalitarian dictator is a totalitarian dictator, regardless of what ideology he professes to be guided by.
It was a fascist general in 1930s Spain who coined the phrase “Viva la muerte!” or “Long live death!” Essentially meaningless, the words captured the cult of soil, blood and savagery that coursed through European Fascism, in its Francoist and other forms.
President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela hates fascists; they are central to his repertoire of insults. But he has not hesitated to deploy the imagery of death to bolster his leftist brand of petro-authoritarianism, now operating under the ludicrous banner of “Fatherland, Socialism or Death!”
The slogan looks almost quaint in its anachronism. Chávez would no doubt claim Cuban revolutionary, rather than Spanish fascist, roots for it (Fidel Castro also invoked fatherland and finality). The bottom line is this: Latin America’s oil-gilded caudillo is getting serious about ruling for life, just like Franco and Castro.
I might add Vladimir Putin to that list. Like the Russian leader, Chávez has already used gushing oil revenue, a pliant judiciary, subservient institutions and the galvanizing appeal of vitriolic anti-Americanism to concoct a 21st-century, gulag-free authoritarianism. But even Putin has not contemplated going as far as Chávez now intends to take his “Bolivarian revolution.”
Cohen also points out that – as is usual in the case of dictatorships – so-called progress is illusion, at best.
But more than spreading socialist ideals, Chávez has spread a form of crony capitalism, dedicated to his greater glory, that has imbued the economy with all the resilience of a house of cards.
Foreign investment has plunged, scared off by nationalizations. A huge disparity between the official and black-market exchange rates has encouraged get-rich-quick schemes for favored “Chávistas” while erecting endless barriers to trade. Price controls on staples have made eggs unavailable. This week, you can’t find chickens. Chávez’s socialism delivers subsidized gasoline and glittering malls but no milk.
Latin America has been here before, with the disastrous import-substitution and highly regulated models of the 1960s and ’70s. Most of the region has moved on, but not Chávez, who trumpets “growth from within,” whatever that is. The World Bank’s recently released “Doing Business 2008,” a ranking of the ease of conducting commerce, places Venezuela 172nd out of 178 countries.
If the referendum to change the constitution of Venezuela passes on Sunday, the people there will have voted in the end of their freedom and long-term economic failure.
This is just the final nail in the coffin of Venezuelan democracy, which was never very strong even after it’s restoration in the 50s: mismanagement of the oil economy in the 80s and the utter unconcern of middle and upper class Venezolanos for the poor gave room for this weed, Chavez, to grow. I don’t approve of a single about Chavez or Chavismo, but the elites of Venezuela brought this on themselves. It looks like the lights have finally gone on for them, and I hope it’s not too late for them to stop him and try to create a stable democracy, but I have my doubts.
Chavez is actually trying to perpetuate his rule by creating a personality cult reminiscent of North Korea’s Kim family. All signs indicate that he wants to take it much farther than Castro ever did.