By The Miami Herald Editorial Board
Hugo Chávez’s folksy charm and forceful personality made him an
extraordinary politician. His enviable ability to win a mass following
allowed him to build a powerful political machine that kept him in
office from February of 1999 until his death on Tuesday. But as a
national leader, he was an abject failure who plunged Venezuela into a
political and economic abyss.
Dead at 58, Hugo Chávez leaves
behind a country in far worse condition than it was when he became
president, its future clouded by rivals for succession in a
constitutional crisis of his Bolivarian party’s making and an economy in
chaos.
A former paratrooper, Mr. Chávez had a radical vision for
“21st Century Socialism,” which was never fully explained. His skillful
rhetoric, which filled supporters with utopian dreams, was used to
justify the methodical destruction of Venezuela’s democratic
institutions and the free market.
Shortly after coming to office, he rewrote the constitution to his
liking and aggressively set out to rig elections and stifle adversaries
in the legislative branch and the courts. Unable to brook criticism, he
turned his fire on the independent news media, eventually silencing
most voices of opposition by bully tactics and economic intimidation.
His
Bolivarian regime rewarded supporters and punished opponents, giving
rise to enormous corruption and the creation of a new class of greedy
oligarchs with political connections. Unfortunately for Venezuela and
for all his political skills, the president was both an incompetent
executive and a worse economist.
In an energy-rich country that
once knew no blackouts, electrical shortages are frequent, the result of
Mr. Chávez’s plundering of the country’s public oil company. In a
country that once enjoyed a thriving free market, prices are controlled
and food items often scarce.
In recent weeks, while Mr. Chávez was
hospitalized, Venezuela was once again forced to devalue its currency,
this time by one-third. This was the inevitable outcome of a series of
disastrous economic decisions that included nationalizing the telephone
company and other utilities, which scared off foreign investors and
spurred capital flight.
For Venezuelans, the worst aspect of the
Chávez years was the soaring crime rate. Venezuela has become one of the
most violent countries in the world, with nearly 20,000 murders
recorded in 2011 and a homicide rate that some experts say is four times
greater than in the last year before Mr. Chávez took power.
On
the international front, Mr. Chávez eagerly accepted Fidel Castro as his
mentor, providing Cuba with cut-rate oil and making common cause with
Iran and other rogue regimes. His departure leaves the anti-American
front leaderless on a hemispheric level and could eventually threaten
the subsidy that Cuba relies on to keep its economy barely functioning.
As a result of all this, Venezuela today is a polarized society divided
between the intolerant supporters of Mr. Chávez’s Bolivarian Revolution
and a democratic opposition that, against all odds, has waged a
courageous fight for a democratic alternative.
The president’s
death means a new election must be called soon. Under Hugo Chávez, the
electoral machinery was stacked against the opposition and that will
doubtless be the case again, but the United States and democracies
throughout the hemisphere should insist on a fair and transparent
electoral process to select the new president.
The Organization of
American States, which was once seen as a defender of political and
civil liberties in the hemisphere but has made itself largely irrelevant
in recent years, could regain some of its stature by taking a prominent
role in ensuring that the people of Venezuela can make the most of this
opportunity to restore their democracy.
None of Mr. Chávez’s
would-be successors, including Nicolás Maduro, his vice president and
designated political heir, possesses the fallen leader’s forceful
personality or political skill, though his popularity may extend beyond
death to give the regime’s official candidate an edge in the next
election.
But without discarding “Bolivarian” principles and
restoring the country’s democratic institutions, no one will be able to
stop the downward spiral of Venezuela that began the day Hugo Chávez was
elected president.
SoRo: Fast Facts:
Fact: In 2012, Venezuela had 21,692 murders with a population of only 27.1 million.
Fact: 1998 (no Chavez): 4,450 murders
Fact: 2012 (with Chavez): 21,692 murders
Fact: Homicide rate is over 73 per 100,000 inhabitants.
Fact: Homicide rate in Caracas is more than 200 per 100,000 inhabitants.
Fact: The price of food and drink rose by 21% in the first five months of 2010, according to the Central Bank.
Fact:
The inflation rate in Venezuela was recorded at 22.18 percent in January of 2013.
Fact: Infant
mortality rate: total: 20.18 deaths/1,000 live births
Fact:
The Chavez government allowed 75,000 tonnes of food to rot in 2010 as
the country was experiencing massive food shortages.
Fact:
Basic food stuffs, such as flour, milk, bread, sugar, poultry, dairy
products and cooking oil are in chronic short supply and have been for
years.
Fact: In the Andean Region, Venezuela is the
only net importer of food; in contrast, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and
Peru are all net food exporters.
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