Letters: In praise of Hugo Chavez

Chavez has transformed life for millions in Venezuela

Saturday, 22 November 2008

Phil Gunson paints a bleak picture of the situation in Venezuela under the Hugo Chavez government ("Tough-talking Chavez faces rising dissent", 20 November). Yet, if this is accurate, why are President Chavez's approval ratings at 58 per cent, as he reports?

No mention is made of how the Chavez government has delivered free healthcare to millions of people for the first time, eradicated illiteracy and used the country's best economic performance for decades to halve poverty levels.

Suggestions of "violent reaction" to the poll results from Chavez also turn reality on its head. It was the Chavez government itself that was briefly the victim of an opposition-led military coup in 2002. In contrast, the Chavez government has showed a consistent commitment to democracy; Sunday's vote will be the 13th national electoral contest held since Chavez became President. Moreover, last week the respected Latinbarametro survey showed that Venezuela is now the country with the greatest support for democracy in Latin America and the region's second-most satisfied with the functioning of its democracy. Venezuela's combination of democracy and social progress under the Chavez government has inspired widespread support. Others can learn from this process, but only if it is portrayed accurately.

Colin Burgon MP

Chair, Labour Friends of Venezuela group of MPs, House of Commons

Phil Gunson's assertion that Chavez "is threatening to jail a popular opposition leader" cannot go unchallenged, because it suggests serious failings in Vene-zuela's democracy.

He quotes Chavez as saying, "That criminal must go to prison", but this is something altogether different, especially when one considers that the said opposition leader, Manuel Rosales, is under investigation on corruption charges and has been summoned to court to make depositions. But Rosales is totally free and is campaigning vigorously to win his election for Mayor. Electoral rhetoric apart, the President of Venezuela does not have the legal or constitutional authority to arrest anybody.

As Chavez has already demonstrated in the 2007 constitutional referendum which rejected his government's proposals, the democratic wishes of Venezuelans will be duly recognised. It has been solidly established that Venezuela's electoral processes are probably the cleanest in the world; they are certainly the most observed.

Dr Francisco Dominguez

Head of Latin American Studies, Middlesex University, London N14