The Chávez Myth and Incredulous Europe - by Rafael Rico Ríos

Chavez has died, now he is a legend and a myth. The debate in Europe is whether Chavismo will remain united, while shocked by the mystical manifestations of a people's pain. They fail to relate how in the processes of Latin American liberation, the mysticism and unity of the popular movements go hand-in-hand. The Chavez Myth is cemented, reinforced concrete for the unity of Chavismo’s factions, which will work for a long time. Those who don´t stay true to Chavez’s memory will leave Chavismo.

Ahead of the April 14 elections, Chavismo’s unity is  guaranteed whilst the opposition, which was held together by a set of interests against Chavez, has serious problems of cohesion that may adversely affect the mobilization of their electorate. Whilst alive, Chavez held Chavismo together, but more importantly, he held together the opposition.

Although the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), have agreed on the unique nomination of Capriles, the  opposition electorate perceives the internal divisions and lack of political leadership, resulting from the  heterogeneity of the political currents within it. It is true that the opposition came very close in the last presidential elections. However, electorally, Chavismo need not worry about the opposition: if Chavismo mobilises all its electorate, it will win easily. Paradoxically, in order for the opposition to win Chavista votes, they would be forced to use the Chavez Myth by arguing: "Chávez himself was a true leader and you are not Chavez."

In any case, the Bolivarian Revolution now has its legend which will give it body and consistency for a long time.  Latin America will continue down the path of change with its legends, myths and revolutions. Europe, however, does not believe in itself. In crisis stricken Europe, they believe in an inert reality, motionless and stiff. Perhaps Europe will have its revolution the night it regains its mystique, believes in its legends and hears the terrifying moan of its Llorona when it kills with hunger.

Read more: The Chávez Myth and Incredulous Europe | venezuelanalysis.com

Chávez will continue to inspire – but not in Europe - by Martin Kettle

One of the most famous things ever said about Hugo Chávez, who died on Tuesday, was written by the Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez after accompanying him on a flight from Havana to Caracas in 1999, just before Chávez took office as Venezuela's president for the first time.

"I was overwhelmed by the feeling," Márquez wrote, "that I had just been travelling and chatting pleasantly with two opposing men. One to whom the caprices of fate had given an opportunity to save his country. The other, an illusionist who could pass into the history books as just another despot."

Two days after Chávez's death, Márquez's words still hold the key to any serious assessment of the late president. Chávez was, of course, only one person. But the two men whom Márquez discerned cohabited within him to the end. They helped to make him such a complex and divisive figure. And they ensure that any verdict on Chávez can never be an absolute one.

Chávez was a Latin American revolutionary populist of a very particular kind. His light, or a form of it, may shine on in Bolivia or Ecuador, though it may soon be flickering in Cuba. But it does not shine in Bradford or Brent, never mind in Buckinghamshire. The chavista model is as distant from Europe as Bolivar and Chávez both insisted that European models were from Latin America. To think otherwise is just revolutionary escapism of a kind of which most of us are well rid.

Chávez's strength, which he consciously drew from his hero Bolivar, was to be politically inventive and distinctive. No one can deny him that tribute. And inventiveness is certainly needed in British and European politics. But it will have to be of a wholly different and vernacular kind, owing little to the vast currency reserves and natural wealth that financed Chávez's reign, and everything to the relative global decline and increasingly beleaguered social model that is our continent's modern reality.

Read more: Chávez will continue to inspire – but not in Europe | Martin Kettle | Comment is free | The Guardian

Hugo Chavez Dead: Venezuela's President Dies At 58

President Hugo Chavez

President Hugo Chavez, the fiery populist who declared a socialist revolution in Venezuela, crusaded against U.S. influence and championed a leftist revival across Latin America, died Tuesday at age 58 after a nearly two-year bout with cancer.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro, surrounded by other government officials, announced the death in a national television broadcast. He said Chavez died at 4:25 p.m. local time.

During more than 14 years in office, Chavez routinely challenged the status quo at home and internationally. He polarized Venezuelans with his confrontational and domineering style, yet was also a masterful communicator and strategist who tapped into Venezuelan nationalism to win broad support, particularly among the poor.

Chavez repeatedly proved himself a political survivor. As an army paratroop commander, he led a failed coup in 1992, then was pardoned and elected president in 1998. He survived a coup against his own presidency in 2002 and won re-election two more times.

Supporters saw Chavez as the latest in a colorful line of revolutionary legends, from Castro to Argentine-born Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Chavez nurtured that cult of personality, and even as he stayed out of sight for long stretches fighting cancer, his out-sized image appeared on buildings and billboard throughout Venezuela. The airwaves boomed with his baritone mantra: "I am a nation." Supporters carried posters and wore masks of his eyes, chanting, "I am Chavez."

Now, it will be up to Venezuelans to determine whether the Chavismo movement can survive, and how it will evolve, without the leader who inspired it.

Read more: Hugo Chavez Dead: Venezuela's President Dies At 58

Venezuela: Chavez in ‘very delicate’ condition with new infection

President Hugo Chavez has contracted a severe respiratory infection and is in a “very delicate” condition, the Venezuelan government said on Monday. Cancer-stricken Chavez has been undergoing chemotherapy following surgery in Cuba.

President Hugo Chavez is breathing with greater difficulty as a new and severe respiratory infection has taken hold, Venezuela’s government said, describing the cancer-stricken president’s condition as "very delicate."

A brief statement read on national television by Communications Minister Ernesto Villegas late Monday carried the sobering news about the charismatic 58-year-old socialist leader’s deteriorating health.

Chavez, 58, has been undergoing “chemotherapy of strong impact,” Villegas added without providing further details.

Chavez has neither been seen nor heard from, except for “proof-of-life” photos released in mid-February, since submitting to a fourth round of surgery in Cuba on Dec. 11 for an unspecified cancer in the pelvic area. It was first diagnosed in June 2011.

The government says he returned home on Feb. 18 and has been confined to Caracas’ military hospital since.

Read more: Chavez in ‘very delicate’ condition with new infection - VENEZUELA - FRANCE 24

Venezuela Chavez wins 3rd re-election in tightest race yet - by Frank Bajak

President Hugo Chavez

President Hugo Chavez put to rest any doubts about his masterful political touch in winning a third consecutive six-year term after a bitterly fought race against a youthful rival who has galvanized Venezuela’s opposition.

The state governor who lost Sunday’s presidential vote, Henrique Capriles, had accused the flamboyant incumbent of unfairly leveraging to his advantage Venezuela’s oil wealth to finance his campaign as well as flaunting his near total control of state institutions.

Capriles also narrowed Chavez’s margin of victory to his smallest yet in a presidential contest. This time, the former army paratroop commander who led a failed 1992 coup won 55 percent of the vote against 45 percent for Capriles, with 98 percent of the vote counted.

In 2006, Chavez’s margin of victory was 27 points.

Nevertheless, the populace endorsed once again Chavez’s stated aim of converting Venezuela into a socialist state.

Read more: Chavez wins 3rd re-election in tightest race yet - News - Boston.com

Venezuela opposition favourite Henrique Capriles' warms up for Chavez - by Andrew Cawthorne

Teenage girls scream, fishermen fallen on hard times thrust tatty documents forward, and crowds swallow Henrique Capriles' fist-pumping figure at chaotic stops along the Caribbean coast.

Venezuela's young opposition front-runner is all energy as he criss-crosses the South American nation ahead of a February 12 primary likely to make him President Hugo Chavez's challenger in this year's presidential election. Though he has four rivals in the Democratic Unity coalition primary, the 39-year-old state governor is well ahead in polls and already looking forward to matching the socialist president's own pumped-up style in an October 7 duel.

Though himself a center-left politician, Capriles - a lawyer by training with 13 years as a legislator, mayor and now governor of Miranda state - says Chavez's socialism has largely been a disaster for Venezuela despite some gains for the poor. "They call themselves socialists but they are far from modern socialism. This is a completely failed statist model."


From a wealthy family with a cinema chain and other business interests, Capriles professes himself a follower of Brazil's model of free-market economics with a strong social commitment. He wants to build on and improve what he sees as the best of Chavez's 13 years - free healthcare in slums, for example - while gradually rolling back some of the most radical economic policies like currency controls and nationalizations.

Polls show Capriles' own record in office, energetic style, avoidance of confrontational rhetoric, and emphasis on education, employment and security give him the best chance of beating Chavez among the five opposition primary candidates.

For more: Venezuela opposition favourite Henrique Capriles' warms up for Chavez | World | Reuters

EU-Digest - Press TV - Chavez: G20 summit a waste of time

Press TV - Chavez: G20 summit a waste of time

Chavez: G20 summit a waste of time

Hugo Chavez says that G-20 summit in Washington is a waste of time, because it excluded the poor and is hosted by the people who caused the problem. "Really, I don't know what they are going to do in Washington, the host is to blame," Chavez said, referring to Saturday's meeting of the world's 20 richest countries to tackle the problems of world economy. "They are going to waste their time," Chavez said in a television speech to supporters.

Note EU-Digest: Probably not a complete waste of time. It will provide an opportunity for some of the major economic players in the world to exchange ideas, say goodbye to President Bush and to issue a positive statement. However, without the key player, President elect Obama, who is not yet sworn in as the leader of the USA, which deregulated financial system caused this whole problem in the first place, no decisions of any importance can be made. It's also interesting to see that the British PM Gordon Brown, who fought his country's participation in a common European currency and close regulatory and monetary cooperation, has now suddenly become an advocate of a more structured global financial system. In this respect, it seems that the only world leader who has come up with well thought out plan for a badly needed restructured capitalist system is Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy, the President of France, presently also holding the Presidency of the EU.