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Mail & Guardian, South Africa

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Obsequies for Chavez were Just a Warm-Up for Fidel's (Le Figaro, France)

 

"Only ignorance about Latin American reality or a nostalgia for strong leaders can explain the admiration Hugo Chavez aroused on the French left. ... Revolutionary romanticism regularly fueled conflict during the Cold War, in which the United States opposed the allies of Soviet communism. ... In this sense, the obsequies for Hugo Chavez were just a general rehearsal for the chorus of lamentation that in some circles, Fidel Castro's inevitable disappearance are bound to bring."

 

By Pierre Rousselin

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Translated By Katarzyna Wisniewska

 

March 20, 2013

 

France - Le Figaro - Original Article (French)

Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad comforts the mother of Hugo Chavez, Elena Frias, alongside the flag-draped coffin of her son, Mar. 8. Ahmadinejad came under fire from Iran clerics, not only for publicly showing such affection toward a female, but for saying Chavez would be resurrected with Christ and the Mahdi.

 

RUSSIA TODAY NEWS VIDEO, RUSSIA: What is the legacy of Hugo Chavez?, March 8, 00:24:00RealVideo

Like many Latin American caudillos before him, Hugo Chavez knew how to create a hybrid political system in which the most idealistic leftism is able to embrace an authoritarianism the likes of which is inspired by history's darkest dictatorships.

 

The obsequies for the Bolivarian “Comandante” resulted in many a tear. Such support from the most impoverished is understandable, as is the quasi-religious devotion Chavez inspired in his partisans. For fourteen years, every state resource was in the service of his personality cult. The ideological barrage he subjected Venezuelans to allowed him to establish a personal influence his successors will find very difficult to maintain.

Posted By Worldmeets.US

 

That Chavez devoted his energetic demagoguery and means without end in the form of oil wealth to campaigns against poverty, explain his indisputable popularity among his people. His generosity toward brotherly countries helped him buy heroic stature on the continental left, grandly claiming the legacy of Bolivar, father of Latin American independence.

 

Moreover, his fanatic anti-imperialism and diatribes against the United States of George W. Bush easily won him the sympathy of leaders as unsavory as Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Belarus head of state Alexander Lukashenko - who were both present at the funeral.

 

Hugo Chavez had an extraordinary talent: creating myths out of almost nothing. But his policy was just a series of failures - particularly in the field of economics. Due to its oil reserves, Venezuela is potentially the richest nation on the planet. Expropriation, nationalization and corruption have made it a state plagued by crime, inflation and chronic food shortages.

 

This is social policy à la Léon Blum, so praised by the left. As for Chavez' institutional reforms, which Minister of Overseas Victorin Lurel compares to those of General de Gaulle, they mostly consisted of replacing existing democratic bodies with institutions at the caudillo's beck and call.

 

Only ignorance about Latin American reality or a nostalgia for strong leaders can explain the admiration Hugo Chavez aroused on the French left. There is also a strong dose of anachronism in his religion of anti-imperialistic socialism. Revolutionary romanticism regularly fueled conflict during the Cold War, in which the United States opposed the allies of Soviet communism.

 

In this sense, the obsequies for Hugo Chavez were just a general rehearsal for the chorus of lamentation that in some circles, Fidel Castro's inevitable disappearance are bound to bring. There is strong concern that this might be an occasion for new fireworks.

 

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SEE ALSO ON THIS:

Al-Wahdawi, Yemen: Hugo Chavez: 'More Arab than the Arabs of Oil'

Ahora, Cuba: Glory to the 'Irreversible' and 'Immortal' Hugo Chavez!

Guardian Unlimited, U.K.: Claim that Chavez will be Resurrected with Jesus 'Went Too Far'

El Nacional, Venezuela: Maduro Asserts: U.S. 'Infected' Chavez with Deadly Illness

Novosti, Russia: With Chavez' Death, Communist Chief Sees a U.S. 'Cancer' Plot  

Kayhan, Iran: The Mahdi is Reappearing to Rid World of 'Devils in Human Form'  

Die Welt, Germany: Ahmadinejad Announces Iranian Plans to 'Administer the World'

Iraq of Tomorrow, Iraq: Ahmadinejad Told to 'Corroborate' American Threat to the 'Mahdi'

Kayhan, Iran: Ahmadinejad: Egypt Revolution Reveals Hand of the 'Mahdi'

Carta Maior, Brazil: Why the Right 'Hates' Latin America

Ahora, Cuba: What Barack Obama Should Be Told about Hugo Chavez

La Tercera, Chile: Death of Hugo Chavez Opens Way for Democratic Recovery in Venezuela

La Razon, Bolivia: President Morales Says 'Empire Has All the Tools' to Poison Chavez

Guardian, U.K.: Death of Chavez Brings Chance of Fresh Start for U.S. and Latin America

Global Times, China: Demonized by the West, Hugo Chavez was a Friend to China

Mehr News Agency, Iran: Ahmadinejad: Chavez Will Be 'Resurrected with Christ the Savior'

Guardian Unlimited, U.K.: Claim that Chavez will be Resurrected with Jesus 'Went Too Far'

El Nacional, Venezuela: Maduro Asserts: U.S. 'Infected' Chavez with Deadly Illness

Novosti, Russia: With Chavez' Death, Communist Chief Sees a U.S. 'Cancer' Plot  

La Voz Mundo, Venezuela: Facing Reelection Fight, Hugo Chavez Plays 'Obama Card'

Diario de Cuyo, Argentina: Hugo Chavez and Barack Obama: A Common Electoral Challenge  

El Tiempo, Colombia: What Good is Our New, U.S.-Free 'Community'?  

Estadao, Brazil: In Latin America, Rhetoric Triumphs Over Reality  

La Razon, Bolivia: Latin America Has Excluded the U.S. … So What Now?

ABC, Spain: Hugo Chavez Calls Terrorism Indictment a U.S.-Spanish Plot  

Folha, Brazil: Latin American Unity Cannot Be Dependent on Excluding the U.S.  

La Jornada, Mexico: Latin America's March Toward 'Autonomy from Imperial Center'

La Jornada, Mexico: Militarization of Latin America: Obama 'Ahead of Bush'

O Globo, Brazil: U.S. Navy Shows That What U.S. Can Do, Brazil Can Also Do  

Clarin, Argentina: Resurrected U.S. Fourth Fleet Creates Suspicion Across South America

Le Figaro, France: U.S. Navy 'Resurrects' Fourth Fleet to Patrol Latin America

Semana, Colombia: Hugo Chávez Isn't 'Paranoid' to Fear the U.S. Marines  

Tal Cual, Venezuela: President Chavez 'Puts Early End' to Honeymoon with Obama

El Universal, Venezuela: Obama is No 'Black in Chavez' Pocket'

Gazeta, Russia: Latin Americans Will Sooner or Later Come 'Crawling' to the U.S.

Gazeta, Russia: Castro and Chavez Split Over Obama

El Tiempo, Colombia: 'Tropical Napoleon' Melts Before Obama's 'Empire'

El Tiempo, Colombia: Survey: Obama 'Most Popular Leader' in the Americas

El Espectador, Colombia: Cuba in Obama's Sights

El Mundo, Colombia: Obama: A Man Who Takes His Promises Seriously

La Razon, Bolivia: President Morales Suspects U.S. Behind Attempt on His Life

 

 

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Posted By Worldmeets.US Mar. 20, 2013, 7:49am