Watching a Socialist Dictator in Action

Twentieth-century socialism didn't fare so well in that regard and it is still unclear that Chavez is doing much better. Chavez's anti-poverty programs, known as the Bolivarian Missions, have helped bring health, education, housing and basic food products to Venezuela's poor like never before. Venezuelan critics insist, however, that such programs are inherently flawed -- assembling hefty, corrupt and inefficient bureaucracies that will prove detrimental to the country in the long run.

Regardless of its ultimate measure and whether historians say this experiment was a success or failure for the poor and Venezuela at large, Chavez's 21st-century socialism is different in one chief respect: It's been rather polite.

Never mind the fact that Chavez sends his thugs out to intimidate his opponents. Never mind that he's styling his rule on Fidel Castro, down to the fact of removing any and all potential threats to his power within his own political party structure lest they get the idea that they can replace him. Chavez is intent upon cultivating his very own cult of personality and we all know how well that's worked out for Fidel and Cuba.

Yet, the writer of this piece, Marcela Sanchez, thinks that Chavez is on to something in promoting the same failed economic policies that have doomed socialist economies all throughout the world during the past 100 years because he's supposedly doing things gently - if only because he's not doing the extreme steps that Castro, Stalin or Mao utilized to redistribute wealth (mostly to him and his elite friends). You know - the kind of mass expropriations and nationalization of industries to the point where the government controlled every aspect of operation (and failed miserably to produce even basic goods and services).

Taking away the rights of Venezuelans isn't gentle. He's turning Venezuela into a dictatorship. It doesn't matter whether he's doing it gently or not. Chavez is living up to his nickname [T]hugo.

UPDATE:
Babalu notes the tendency among the Latin American dictators to worship at the feet of Castro - including using the same failed socialist pablum. Yet they think that getting together will help stick it to the US. Venezuela's parliament just voted itself one step closer forming a collective of failed states.

Others commenting on the events in Venezuela and how Chavez is increasing his personal power at the expense of the democratically elected government and the people: Poliblogger, CATO at Liberty which notes that economic freedom and liberty go hand in hand, Rantings of a Sandmonkey, and Truthdig.