chavez

[rwx]

Although Hugo Chavez has a somewhat indeterminate legacy so far as I can tell, mixing wonderful and awful in relatively equal amounts, he has a way of doing politics that's fallen out of style around here.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Saturday blamed Washington for orchestrating his dispute with Mexico's president over U.S. free-trade accords, but he insisted Mexico would have to resolve the dispute.

Wearing a broad-rimmed sombrero, Chavez sang Mexican ballads with a mariachi band before thousands of his supporters at the end of a march to back him days after Venezuela and Mexico withdrew their ambassadors in a diplomatic standoff.

Full article here. A summary of Chavez' career can be found at the BBC.

Comments

[mskala.livejournal.com]

Is it so different from guitar-strumming Dubya?

[rwx.livejournal.com]

I'd argue yes for two reasons.

The main one is that Chavez is doing this to address the main policy issues that he has, not to just provide a photo-op while avoiding the main issue. GWB was off at a military base getting a photograph taken while new orleans was flooding, HC is actually trying to affect policy and make statements through this means.

For GWB, almost all policy declarations like this would come through his press secretary or through a carefully-crafted speech read through teleprompter. Although I have no doubt that HC's mariachi performance is carefully crafted, it's an actual instrument of policy similar to a press announcement.

The second is the audience, HC's performance is at (more or less) a public rally, while GWB's rallies (to the extent that he has them) are at places where he can control the audience -- during the campaigns, you'd have to sign loyalty oaths to attend them, according to frequent news reports back then.

whoops, hit post too soon

[rwx.livejournal.com]

But overall, the whole feel of the thing isn't the 'diddling while rome burns' feel that GWB's guitar performance gave. I think that's the main difference to me, it feels more like old-style politics, with a just a touch of old-style communist mass rally.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

It's more like classic Latin American populism. Hugo might be the last populist for a long time.

[kbuxton.livejournal.com]

Have you seen the documentary about him? I think it was called the Revolution will be Televised.