Ben Hanson

The tone of righteous indignation of this analysis “Bolivia a Profound Breakdown of Communication with Latin America” truly captures what many specialists on Latin America who support the expansion of democracy feel today. In ways, our era is reminiscent to the period when the French invaded Mexico and the United Sates was so busy with its own internal conflicts (Civil War among others) that it was unable to exert much influence in the rise of Maximiliano as Emperor of Mexico. Or, it reminds us of the period during World War II, the involvement of the United States in a war in two fronts created a space of freedom from intervention which countries like Argentina used to develop an economy that “almost” led this country to join the “First World.”

What really appalls me is how the exertion of freedom and democracy in Latin America are distorted by these legends that are products of United States intelligence through the State Department and are consumed without critical thinking by the media and some apologists of U.S. foreign policy in Latin America.

There are no human rights violation in Venezuela that are comparable to what has happened in the United States with the treatment of undocumented immigrants during ICE raids, the way the historical lynching of African Americans is now led through the more subtle but still deadly application of the death penalty (Chavez did not even imprison the traitors who overthrew him in 2002). There is no rise in inequality in Venezuela that compares to the appalling rise of inequality in the United States, which has risen to the levels of 1928! The reality of a wealthy nation with 47.5 million uninsured and a voter participation rate that is lower than most developed countries cannot be compared with a nation like Venezuela with a dynamic and at times reckless press (compared to the tamed U.S. press) and a much higher rate of electoral participation than the U.S.

How can these distortions of Venezuela’s economic development continue, when not even the opposition of the Bolivarian revolution support these distortions? President Chavez is feisty but has always used humor and not frigates or torture against its opponents. Below are the real economic facts about Venezuela:

In the five years since the government of President Hugo Chavez Frias got control over the country’s national oil industry, real (inflation-adjusted) GDP has grown by
more than 87 percent, with only a small part of this growth being in oil. The
poverty rate has been cut in half, and unemployment by more than half. The
economy has created jobs at a rate nearly three times that of the United States
during its most recent economic expansion. Health care for the poor has been
vastly expanded, with the number of primary care physicians in the public sector
increasing from 1,628 in 1998 to 19,571 (by early 2007). About 40 percent of the
population has gotten access to subsidized food. Access to education, especially
higher education, has also been greatly expanded for poor families. Real (inflation
adjusted) social spending per person has increased by more than 300 percent (Mark Weisbrot, “Creation of Myths About Contemporary Venezuela” Center for Economic Policy Research, March 2008). That is why Chavez has been re-elected.

Latin America has changed and we must get used to it, gunboat diplomacy will not work and it will just serve to place our nation’s national security even more at risk than what President Bush has accomplished with his nightmarish policies.
Let’s respect the right of Latin American leaders to disagree . . . if we really believe in democracy.

Victor M. Rodriguez

Venezuela and Democracy: VEN has one of the most devolved and effective democratic structures of Governance in the whole of Latin America. Yes, the government has had to use executive powers in limited cases, but democracy remains robust – there are no union leaders, journalists or opposition agitators being thrown in jail. The press is completely free, and unfettered, and also almost entirely in the hands of opposition supporters. Despite this, and with international and detailed examination, Chavez has been returned to power repeatedly in election after election. This argument does not hold up.

VEN and violence: Yes, it’s bloody awful, and the government need to do a great deal more, but it is NOTHING compared to neighbouring Colombia, and much of Venezuela is safer than many Latin states (eg El Salvador) that have been in the thrall of the US for decades. Look at Mexico!

VEN and Poverty: Utter nonsense. In the last ten years poverty has been reduced by around 30% – far more than in any other Latin country. Literacy, healthcare and education have improved beyond measure against what happened before. Inequality is in retreat. The facts are there, so stop reading Miami newspapers and open your eyes. You do your arguments no good at all with this sort of misinformation.

Race and divisions within Bolivian society: You just HAVE to be joking.

Your own objectivity is clearly compromised. If you are based in LatAm I can well sympathise that you simply haven’t been exposed to much truth, the press are even more compromised than in the US and EU. But if you need a compass in these events, get a history book. Relax and read some Edoardo Galeano, and you will see why UNASUR are uniting behind Morales. These nations see Bolivia facing the events that presaged decades of dictatorship (you know, the unelected, disappearing thousands of people, shooting newspaper editors kind). If the countries of LatAm stand by to watch Bolivia break apart, the blood will be on their hands.

Landolfo D’Aquino MD ThD