I don’t usually report on world politics around here. Although I follow events around the world closely, there are many much better blogs and news sources than my ramblings. That said, however, I do have to comment on how happy I am that Hugo Chavez has finally silenced his right-wing, bourgeois critics by winning yesterday’s referendum, as reported in this Guardian article.
With 94% of the votes counted, Chavez had 58% of the votes and retains the right to govern. Chavez is a left-wing leader to be admired. Since his first days in office, in 1998, he has been under attack by the middle and upper class who have seen their secure way of life (built on the backs of the desperately poor) threatened by Chavez’s policies that re-distribute the nation’s oil wealth to the poor and his refusual to bow to American pressures to stand down.
Unfortunately, like most news stories that don’t happen north of the Equator or involve a round ball, I’m sure this story will go under-reported in light of other competitions going on these days. Regardless of how mainstream media reports this, today is a great day for democracy around the world and like the American’s losing their first Olympic basketball game for eons, it shows that anything is possible and that democracy is alive.