Saturday, March 17, 2007

Chavez does Barbara Walters

Tonight, I had a chance to catch part of the Hugo Chavez interview with Barbara Walters on 20/20. To sum things up, I was impressed. Hugo Chavez comes across in this piece as a progressive socialist, who wants to fix the world. He even quoted Martin Luther King's I had a dream speech in his message to the American people.

What really impressed me about the interview was Chavez talking about his passion for eradicating poverty around the world. The use of his country's oil money, not to line the coffers of shareholders, but to help out those less fortunate. Though i did like some parts of the interview, i would have preferred if it was more professional as descended into a Barbara Walters interview about trivial things.

Such trivial topics included
-how many coffee's Hugo has a day?
-what its like to meet Saddam Hussein?
-does he hate America?
-will he stop selling America oil?
-does he love his family?
-will he get married again?
and a few others.

Now, these were amusing at the time, but I would rather hear about the medical deal with Cuba rather than whether Hugo is a coffee addict. I would have also liked to hear if the Venezuelans are trying to act against the Monroe doctrine, in terms of their influence in Latin America.
The Venezuelan government has become a lender to other states in South America, using their oil wealth to influence other countries. Thats just a few thoughts on this, as I have been suffering from writers block. Its good to be back blogging.

-Jamie

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow.. this is a blatent disregard for people who share our quality of life in Venezuala. how low is the liberal party to edorse such a leader? I have a friend from Venezuala and her family isn devastated at what he's doing to their country. the murder rate is through the roof and poverty wont be solved by sharing an ending resource. anyways socialist liberals. whens that merger with NDP going to happen

Cam said...

You're qualification of Chavez as a good leader based on the fact "that he wants to help the poor" is misguided in my opinion. Stalin, Lenin, Mao, even Hitler wanted to help the poor. I don't doubt Chavez's good intentions, but intentions don't translate to results.

His reckless disregard for economics has led to massive inflation, and unemployment. Pouring oil money down the throats of the poor does not make them better off in the long run. What happens when oil prices go down? He's already nationalized virutally every aspect of the industry, considerably lowering overall output.

Your admiration also neglects the fact that he is destroying basic liberal values. Freedom of speech is constrained with his recent decision to cancel the licenses of various private media establishments, and no they're not owned by Rupert Murdoch... He's spitting on property rights (a basic pillar of political and economic freedom), with expropriations of land and businesses in the name of the "public good."

Not to mention, Chavez's anti-imperialist rhetoric is hypocritical, coming from a leader that wants to remake Latin America in his image. I personally know many Colombians who are appaled at his financial backing of the violence and kidnappings committed by FARC guerillas in the Colombian jungle. Contrary to what you believe, not everyone in Latin America wishes they lived in Cuba.

Don't let your hatred of capitalism and America blind you to Chavez's anti-democratics ways. He even condones Iran's theocracy for god's sake.

Goodnews463, From one who often votes Liberal, I wouldn't say that this view represents that of the party, which on the whole still values individual rights... however, I too am disturbed at the rise of this type of thinking. If the Libs ever merge with the NDP, I'm going Tory in a second.

Jamie Callingham said...

endorse Chavez Goodnews463, what are you smoking?

Unknown said...

My God, how naive of you! I don´t mean it as an insult. It is just that I can´t believe what you wrote. I can´t believe you BELIEVE everything people say without questionning motives and without listening to the other side of the story!
Listen, if your politicians here in Canada spilled your country´s money "helping" other nations while denying opportunities to their own people, I don´t think you will feel very happy.
In Venezuela there is no sugar at the moment, no chicken ... things that are so easy for you to get at the supermarket here, and it is getting WORSE because no one wants to invest, foreigners or nationals, as there is no financial security whatsoever, farms are invaded, cattle stolen, crime is rampant and Chavez and his followers are delapidating the wealth that has come to the country in the last 8 years.
I would suggest you do "your homework" before you publish your perceptions of something you don´t know about and have not experienced closely.
The enemy of your enemy is not necessarily your friend. Bush and Chavez are exactly the same, too selfish idiots who came to power and have been re-elected by fraud. Bush is killing the poorest Americans in a nonsensical war and Chavez is killing Venezuelans, especially the poorest, by crime in the streets, malnutrition while giving them a hope that will never come true. He does not invest in the country, just hands out giveaways and keeps Venezuelans as ignorant as they can be. He has instilled deep social hatred, something it did not exist to such a degree before. We are all latinos, there is no black, white, we are all brown, some darker or lighter than others. I can´t go out anymore thinking I might never come back home. I don´t even carry pictures of my family in my wallet, I don´t wear anything that will catch attention, I wear dark glasses most of the time and speak to no one or see no one as I walk in the streets and avoid any eye contact with strangers. Can you imagine living like this here in Canada?
You, as an educator, should know better. If you were Venezuelan, you would have left the country a long time ago. Educated people, especially if they have excellent credentials, merits and are bilingual are scorned at by Chavez and his people. There are four public universities that have already been "intervened" by the government and Presidents of them appointed by the "Ministry of Education for the Power of the People", regardless of their credentials, solely based on their close relationship to people in government. Our public universities used to have Presidents from the academic community that were voted for by its members. Not anymore. Chavez wants to eliminate university entrance exams altogether, instead of simply improve elementary and secondary education.
BTW, I am NOT rich, my mom did not finish primary school, my dad made it to secondary school and worked hard all his life to get his 5 children into college and all of us have master degrees. But my own children are leaving the country. My daughter is already here in Canada and my son has started immigration papers to go to Australia, the only two countries were Venezuelans with no direct ancestors from Europe or any other place can go to to start a new life. Like them, the best of our young adults and adolescents are leaving the country. There is nothing worse than no hope for a better future.
Think for a minute: Don´t you think it is odd Chavez likes to relate with the most dangerous "leaders" in the world? Castro, Sadam Hussein, Khadafi, Kim Jung II,

Unknown said...

Sorry, I cannot find the link where this is coming from (I tried)

Dave Collins Says:
Ms. Walters interview with Chavez was pure softball.
Why did she not ask the following:
Do you think that it serves your nation that you control the executive, the judiciary, the central bank and the electoral commission?
Do you think that it is a good idea to change the constitution of your company so that you can run for president indefinitely?
You say that you insult George Bush because of an intense personal dislike. Why do insult in a similar fashion Alvaro Uribe of Venezuela, Alan Garcia of Peru, Nobel Prize winner Oscar Arias of Costa Rica, as well as anyone political opponent in your country that expresses disagreement with your ideas?
Do you think that there is something wrong with the fact that your government controls the country’s electoral commission, and that the head of the electoral commission during the last election is now your vice president?
Is it good that your government have a 25% ownership of the company that manufactured the voting machines that were used in the last election, and that 5000 of these machines were not audited?
Have you learned principals of good governance from allies of your such as Mahmood Ahmadinejad, Robert Mugabe, Muammar el Qadhafi, Aleksandr Luckashenko and Fidel Castro?
Why after 8 years of your rule are there food shortages, 45% annual inflaction, 40% - 50% unemployment, notable public insecurity and rampant corruption.
Is it true that government employees that signed the 2004 referendum for a recall election were dismissed from their positions?
I could go on and on and on. Babara Walters your interview of this dictator was a disgrace.
Regarding the contention that Venezuela will change its attitude toward the U.S. with a new president, this is a naive belief. Listen to Radio Nacional of Venezuela. This station spews anti-American rhetoric all day. In addition to despising George Bush, Chavez despises our political and economic system.
Before formulating an opinion, it is a good idea to educate onself. Barbara your interview was a uni-dimensional joke.
March 19th, 2007 at 5:35 pm

Daniel said...

I think it is dangerous to imagine that Chavez is indeed like the interview. I suggest that you inquire on other matters that Barbara did not even touch with a ten feet pole. For example the highest crime rate in the Americas, the highest corruption, the highest inflation. Just for starters. Surely these issues affect the poor more than the rich, no?