Please allow me to set right some ill-conceived perceptions of the late president Hugo Chavez, and to correct remarks offered by a writer out of Canada. Influenced to a large extent by their respective governments' need to gain acceptance of lopsided geopolitical policies, the undiscerning in the US and Canada are still today being moved by ideological jargon such as communism, socialism, etc.
A bit of research should allow insight into the fact that American, Canadian and British money helped finance all the abominations of which he wrote viz. the Bolshevik revolution (which started communism), and Hitler who triggered the second world war. His own country Canada, organised the clandestine release of Trotsky, thereby allowing him to re-enter Russia to set in motion the Russian Revolution (Sutton, A. 2003).
On the other hand, he has not acknowledged that on monitoring US relations with foreign sovereign nations, that country, since the end of the second world war, has tried to overthrow more than 50 foreign governments, has interfered with democratic elections in at least 30, has attempted to assassinate more than 50 foreign leaders, has bombed more than 30 countries and has attempted to suppress populist or nationalist movements in more than 20 countries (Blum, W. 2013).
Thanks to President Hugo Chavez, Latin America has stemmed the hemorrhage of its wealth and the tide flow of capital flight to the north. He has consolidated the countries of the south like no one else could have so that the US finds it more difficult to manipulate leaders there and drain the veins of the continent.
The work of Archbishop Romero of El Salvador, who was branded a Marxist and assassinated, has continued for the poor in Latin America. Under Chavez, Venezuela's annual GDP has had an average growth of 3.5 per cent between 2000 and 2011, compared to 1.5 per cent for 1989-99.
Life expectancy at birth there has increased from 65 years to 73 years over the same periods under his leadership, and infant mortality has fallen from 37.8 per 1,000 live births to 16.1.
The US on the other hand, ranks No. 1 in mortality among persons aged 10-24 years from violence, suicides and accidents, (60 per 100,000) among 31 high income countries. In Singapore it is 18 per 100,000!
Steve Smith
via e-mail