In the Shadow of the Liberator: Hugo Chavez and the Transformation of Venezuela

President Hugo Chavez has been a fantastic leader for all people with a progressive, social conscience. He inherited a land where the overwhelming majority of the population lived in dismal poverty despite being the 5th largest oil producing nation in the world. A small, elite group of oligarchs, mostly white in a country largely mulatto and black, controlled the wealth and the country's valuable resources. As Richard Gott makes clear in his excellent book, appropriately titled, that not only documents modern Venezuelan history, but brings us all the way back to the very beginning: Spanish colonization, resistence and finally, liberation at the hands of revolutionary Simon Bolivar. Now I must get into some of the vile responses and outright lies that have been made by other reviewers of this book. Some of their comments, like repeating the same exact quote over and over again, makes me wonder if it's one than one person writing this. Others define themselves as "Venezuelan exiles" who are now living in Florida. Let me tell you right now, if there are people going around calling themselves Venezuelan exiles and living in South Florida typing away on a computer, you better believe they are white and make up that top upper-income bracket that I alluded to earlier. Take a look at some of their obvious disdain and downright loathing of the poor, oppressed masses of poor Venezuelans, the overwhelming majority (thus showing their distaste for the Venezuelan people themselves) "I emphasize the word "educated", because it is no surprise that his demagogical approach results appealing to the lower-income strata of Venezuela" Because Chavez nationalized the oil industry and decided to make Venezuela's resources to the benefit of the Venezuelan people, he has made enemies among the infamously right wing, and pro business corporate media in Latin America and its cousin in the United States, who relies on the general ignorance of most Americans on Latin America to defame a great leader. First off, Hugo Chavez is NOT a dictator! The man has had 6 or 7 elections in the past 5 years and has won each and every won of them! And might I add, with overwhelming majorities to the tune of 58% and 60%. In the latest recall effort, that was defeated by nearly 60% of the vote, it was affirmed as being fair by international observers, including former US President Jimmy Carter. NOW, let's compare that with the Bush regime and its "democratic" credientials. 2 Elections in 8 years. NO recall possible under the US Constitution (It was only possible in Venezuela thanks to the Constitution that the "dictator" Chavez made as a way of removing unpopular leaders and keeping them in check! Boy that Chavez! What a funny way of showing what a dictator is!) In 2000, Bush gets controversially "elected", loses the popular vote, no international observers, and needs the Supreme Court to do him in. Yet Bush and his reactionary allies on this board, have NO problem with calling Chav

This book is pretty true to the Venezuelan political system. Although no one likes to admit it, one of the main things that worries the racist "middle class" (as is typical of Middle classes in Latin America, they consist of about 10% of the population) in Venezuela (perhaps the only middle class that lived for much of its life supported by the incumbent, plundering governments, until Chavez arrived: hence one of their reasons to hate him) is the fact that Chavez is not "white, blonde, and green eyed". The truth of the matter is that Chavez has not wrecked the Venezuelan economy. The people striking and closing down other's businesses at gunpoint have. And yes, history has already told: he's the only president (perhaps in the world?) to have won 5 consecutive elections by landslide in 2 years. It's funny how his opposition have gone from calling him a Hitlerite to a Castro-Communist (do these supposedly intelligent people realise that they are opposite ends of a political spectrum?!)

After more than 50 years of extremely corrupt leaders, Venezuelans finally got tired, and elected this former paratroop officer/attempted coup leader as their president. This book portrays the reason for his election, and the way in which he was brought to power quite accurately, if not totally unbiased. However, this book is not just some attempt from Chavez to hire a biographer to change his image (as some readers suggested), but an attempt to show that perhaps president Chavez isn't a spawn of satan, like the opposition claims. Taxing, anti-corruption campaigns, and communicating with the people who elected him (the true average Venezuelan) on TV every Sunday are just a few things that have led him to be called everything from a Fascist (in the pre-election era) to a Communist (in the post-election era). Definitely a good book.

As the author says, few books have been written in English about contemporary Venezuela, and a lot of what is being written in Spanish, for readers abroad, is too biased, incidental and poorly researched to be of any help in order to understand the deep political changes that are taking place in Simón Bolívar's nation. With his book "In the Shadow of the Liberator, Hugo Chávez and the Transformation of Venezuela" Professor Gott contributes to foster an objective and deeper knowledge of the Venezuelan political process led by President Chávez. Gott analyzes Venezuela's recent history;the Carlos Andrés Pérez's Presidency and the "Caracazo" of 1989, the military rebellions of 1992, the Rafael Caldera's government, the fall of the Ancien Régime and the election of Hugo Chávez as President, the formation of the Constituent Assembly and the future of the Bolivarian dream that Chávez endorses, the economy, the Legacy of Bolívar, and the impact of Chávez in Latin America, in a well docummented story enriched with on-site experiences and interviews with leading Venezuelan politicians. Gott also writes about the Reform of the Judiciary, the rights of indigenous peoples, the military and civil society and other changes that Chávez is pushing through his political agenda to conclude, as a majority of Venezuelans do, that President Chávez is an honest man "with the interest of his people at heart" It is an excellent book, not the last word in English - I hope- about a history that is still being written, but a first and rather good approach by an English writing scholar that will undoubtedly help in understanding the present and future of Venezuela.