I think he was good for Venezuela. He took back control of Venezuela's oil resources, he broke down a corrupt government system that enshrined two parties and no one else, he's implemented all manner of programs to help the poor and try and solve the problems of Venezuela from the ground up.
Yes, he did call George Bush "The Devil!" at the U.N., and yes, he's friends with Castro (and even allied with Iran for strategic oil purposes), but most good leaders are going to have some quirks, problems, or beliefs we disagree with. Considering Latin America's history of getting kicked around by U.S. intervention for the last century, is it any surprise Venezuela'd pick a leader who hates them? It'd be nice if he was some sort of international bridge-building "Let's all hold hands and be friends" type, but failing that, he gets stuff done.
What's so wrong with Castro? I love how everyone always sees Castro as such a villain when Cuba hasn't invaded anyone since it left Spain. Yes, the guys in Miami cheered when Castro went to the hospital but how many cheered when Bush started choking on a pretzel?
Sorry, just had to defend Cuba because we (as in Canada) have always had good relations with him. Trudeu even said 'Vive la Castro' when he met with him back when.
But yes, I like this Chavez fellow, though he looks like as a baby he had his face squished against the floor. :P
Castro sucks, Chavez sucks. Go figure. Seriously, what kind of retard goes before the UN and calls a nations leader the devil? Especially when the UN is in the country of the person being talked down upon?
Neither are you? At least you know who he is and I don't think that extends in both directions. But whatever, like many an American in this day and age, your complacency is not unexpected or uncommon.
And replaced it with his own. He's made a lot of right decisions in his term of president, but lately those decisions have been few and far in between. Ok, so he's allied with Castro. I was born far after the events that occured to make enemies between Castro and the U.S., so I'm pretty much neutral torwards Castro. He may talk shit, but those are some damn fine cigars.
But like I said, his decision to call Bush a devil is having economic impacts on his country. For example, 7-Eleven announced recently that they were dropping Citgo, the Venezuelan company, as their oil supplier. The reason was partially politik, no doubt in relation to the comments made against Bush. Will Citgo find another company to supply? Yes, most likely a Chinese one, but there will still be a loss of income there.
Some people find it ridiculous that Chavez (a nation's leader) would go out on a public stage and declare Bush (another nation's leader) the devil (a silly monicker to make clear his dislike).
