Titanic Post

On April Fools Day, I received an email warning all US citizens that the Citgo gasoline company was solely owned by the Venezuelan government and that the socialist dictator of Venezuela vows to bring down the US government for its imperialist aggression. The email further stated that the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chaves, has close alliances with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, singer/activist Harry Belafonte, and as a photo suggested, with the anti-war activist, Cindy Sheehan. At first reading I thought it was a prank, but the real intent of the email was to make readers aware that by buying gasoline from Citgo, they would be financing the overthrow of the American government. “Why should U.S. citizens who love freedom be financing a dictator who has vowed to take down our government?”

There are several things wrong with this depiction. First, the charge that Chavez is a dictator is not entirely true.  Chavez is a heavy-handed ruler and does wield more power than I would be comfortable with, but he is not a dictator in the classic sense.  Venezuela is a federal republic with a democratically elected president and a national unicameral assembly. There are at least seven political parties including a very vocal opposition.   That he is heavy-handed can happen in any democracy with a weak balance of power.  Compare Venezuela’s heavy-handedness with the work of our current president, non-existant opposition in Congress, and a compliant press, happy to reprint press releases from the administration and Pentagon, without question. 

Chavez was first elected in 1998 on a platform to combat disease, illiteracy, malnutrition, poverty, and other social ills. A path he has kept. His rhetoric about taking down our government mirrors the opinion of most non-privileged people in developing countries and shows that he is a shrewd politician. From our government’s viewpoint this makes him a socialist. His opposition in Venezuela and in the US is mostly from the privileged and the wealthy who have instigated a smear campaign against Chavez and possibly covert attempts at his removal. Pat Robinson, the man of God, has openly called for his assassination.

Chavez’s sense of social obligation is not just limited to Venezuelans. Chavez last year instructed Citgo to sell heating oil, discounted 40 percent, to the poor people of Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, and soon to Vermont and Connecticut. This has upset the privileged somewhat. He had also offered assistance to Katrina victims, but FEMA declined to accept. American oil companies are understandably upset with Venezuela and Chavez. Now, Texas congressman Joe Barton is launching an investigation into these practices.

As for Chavez’s alliances with Castro, Belafonte, and Sheehan, I don’t understand what the fuss is about. Considering some of the friends our government keeps, Castro is a pussycat, still in power only because of our boycott of Cuba. I think the other two are good examples for the American people. Belafonte speaks his heart against outrageous US foreign policies. Cindy Sheehan just wants to know why her son died in Iraq. Doesn’t seem like too much to ask for, does it?. I would also like to know why we are there. Seems to me that Harry and Cindy are good people using dissent and activism to make our world a better place to live, while our privileged and wealthy take offense at humanitarian work and do all they can to stifle dissent, thus diminishing our human condition.

I would like to see our government do what the Constitution says they are supposed to be doing, i.e., defending our borders (really), carrying the mail, protecting our rights, and protecting everybody from the excesses of the more powerful.  Harry and Cindy are doing this.