Germany revisited?

It certainly is an exciting time to be in Venezuela. VZ is in the process of undergoing potentially very sweeping changes in its society and government. Historically, the country has been an oligarchy. There is still a very, as in VERY, wealthy but small upper class, with a huge percentage of people who live in poverty or at the edge of it.

As in most of Latin America, and perhaps worse here in VZ, government corruption is ubiquitous. You can´t get a drivers license, or a copy of your birth certificate, etc., without handing over a bribe. And so upon this stage Hugo Chavez made his entrance. He has challenged the voters: "I will change things, and if I don´t, throw me out!" He says the corruption is so wide-spread that to cause reform, he has to assume all the powers of a dictator. The consequences? Public interest industries are being expropriated by the government, small towns´and counties are being re-structured to eliminate local power bases. The currency is artificially controlled to gouge the tourists. A tv station which did not toe the government´s party line has had its 20 year license renewal rejected. Large undeveloped properties are being expropriated to divide up and give to landless peasants.
You can almost feel the tension (excitement?) in the air. Every day the newspapers are filled with news of Chavez´latest proposal with virulent editorials for and against. 70% of the voters gave Chavez a vote of support. In effect, they´re saying: "Go for it, Hugo!"
I can´t help but think that the situation here is similar to the way Germany must have been in the 1930´s just after Hitler came to power. Sure, he was uncouth, uneducated, and boorish. But, he had an energy and a drive that was infectious. And, whether or not it was due to his efforts, the country began an economic turnaround. (As the terrible joke has it, any one who can build all those autobahns can´t be ALL bad!).

There´s a strong attraction to the argument that the country can´t afford political freedoms until there is a modicum of economic freedom. In effect, the people have to be middle class before they can indulge in such niceties as pursuing the¨"human rights" agenda that Rice and Bush like to extol for the middle east. Regrettably, history has usually proven that creating a dictator does not usually improve things. For example, Hitler, Pinochet, and others.

So many people in Latin America do not respect the environment and do not respect others. Bags of garbage pile up under the sign that says "Prohibited to throw garbage here." Newighbors play music at maximum volume at all hours, etc. In order to respect others, or the earth, they have to first respect themselves. Unfortunately, they have been subject to a couple of centuries of oppression by gringos from the US and Europe, and suffer a corresponding inferiority complex.

To respect themselves, they need to be financially and politically independent. Chavez has helped bring about the latter already by publicly thumbing his nose at George W. A large part of the 70% vote for Chavez is a reflection of the people´s pride in endorsing Chavez´s statements of freedom from US economic dominance.

It would be wonderful if, 10 years from now, when VZ is at the apex of the third world, Chavez can reinstate some of the pillars of democratic government.
Regrettably, history would seem to inidcate that this outcome is unlikely. "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." All that notwithstanding, it is indeed a very exciting time here. I wish the venezolanos luck and keep my pessimism to myself.

Hasta luego!