Earlier this week, Hugo Chavez took his anti-American roadshow to the United Nations, there he lambasted Bush and US foreign policy and promoted the writings of linguist and political activist, Noam Chomsky.

Like Chavez, Chomsky is highly critical of US foreign policy, especially the war on terror. The views of Chavez as the Mussolini of Latin America have been well documented on this site. His anti-American diatribes are therefore nothing new. Chavez has risen to prolific heights by painting himself as a champion of the common man, in so doing he has deprived the common man of representative government, clamped down on freedom of the press and expression and done little to strengthen the economic livelihood of his countrymen.

All is forgiven, however, as Chavez has successfully mastered the art of pulling a Mussolini. He uses distraction to draw attention away from his tyrannical tendencies and focuses attention on a perceived threat, where none actually exist. For years Chavez warned his people that a US invasion of Venezuela was imminent, in so doing, the people of Venezuela ignored Chavez’s power grabs as he was regarded as the man who could save the country.

For years Chavez talked of the devil to the north all the while he maneuvered to solidify his hold on power an achievement which was epitomized by his supporters winning every seat in the Venezuelan National Assembly, hardly a sign of a true democracy, as Chavez claims to champion.

Chavez, like most demagogues, understands better than most what makes people tick. The Mussolini of Latin America understands that people are often motivated by petty jealousies and rivalries. Chavez understands that when people who are less fortunate see a nation like the US they are naturally jealous. Like the left in this country, it is difficult for them to accept that those who are successful are so because of their diligence and hard work. If this is true, one must presume that many who aren’t successful have failed because of lack of effort (an inherent reality in a capitalist system like that of the US). In Venezuela it hasn’t helped that the nation has been ruled by crony capitalists who were as dangerous for the country has Chavez is today. Given this reality, it is no great feat to convince the Venezuelan people that the US has achieved its success by trampling on others and thus they are the enemy. This is classic demagoguery 101 and is no different than if espoused by Huey Long, George Wallace, Howard Dean, Hugo Chavez or Joseph Goebbles.

In promoting the works of Noam Chomsky, Chavez is simply advocating the spread of socialism. Chomsky calls himself a libertarian socialist, an oxymoron to be true, as libertarian socialists call for the abolition of private property, with the working class in control of the “means of production.” Such nonsensical theories have long proven unworkable, undemocratic, and ultimately tyrannical. Nonetheless such theories remain popular with the slothful, the indolent, the unproductive and the failures of our society as it represents their only means of achieving anything in life.
Link to LA Times article