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I don’t know a lot about Hugo Chavez, but I do know that, under his leadership, extreme poverty fell in Venezuela by 72% (wikipedia).
I’m pretty sure that I won’t be shedding any tears when either President Bush dies, or President Clinton dies, or President Obama dies.
However, I’m greatly saddened by Hugo Chavez’ passing, because unlike our war-mongering, plutocracy serving Presidents, Chavez, to the limits of my admittedly limited knowledge, never forgot what mattered most in life. I take his continuous effort to lift up the most downtrodden as evidence for a loving heart. Something you just don’t find, in abundance, amongst politicians.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,a but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
22 Comments
I’m forced to be a bit agnostic on the man out of ignorance, but he sure did champion poor people. I’d found an LA Times piece that was pretty easy on him, but drew out some of the rough issues that face the next leader, named Caprile, the schisms that might happen, etc. But I lost the link, and now when I google for it, all the pieces are hard hits on him. Gonna be a lot of ink spent on this one in the near future.
But: rest in peace, Hugo. The US NE needed the gift you made of heating oil, that’s for sure.
There are few great leaders that work for the People in our world and Hugo Chavez was one of the few.
Capitalists and lesser leaders will celebrate his death but the People of the world and especially South America will mourn the loss of a friend.
I’ve witnessed quite a lot of history in my life but seeing Chavez returning to Miraflores Palace in the middle of the night after the coup was unique. It marked the beginning of the end of US hegemony in South America and possibly the world.
Viva Chavez
Rest in Peace, Hugo.
rec’d.
thanks, metamars
and yes, this is a very sad day.
I have a lot of tears for a great man.
“Viva Chavez”
The corporatists and Big Oil lapdogs badmouthed Hugo Chavez to the nth degree.
But seriously, how many people did Hugo Chavez murder with his mouth?
Consider this: Obama has killed more people since he took office.
This is a very sad day for Latin America and a tremendous loss to the world. RIP Hugo Chavez, you were an inspiration and an example of what could be. Deepest condolences to your family and all of Venezuela.
I found it ironic that many of the western MSM(from the BBC to MSNBC) have utilized Hugo’s UN clip, where he smelled the brimstone of Shrub, in their smear attempts…!
RIP Hugo Chavez.
Wonderful words, metamars.
Jimmy Carter wrote an excellent letter…!
Hmmm… http://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/hugo-chavez-030513.html
Give people the facts in the comment spaces under the mainstream media articles on Chavez. In those places the far-right (i.e., mainstream) mythology is winning by a wide margin.
In his honor, Greg Palast is offering a free download of his interviews with Chavez for the BBC. My IE won’t download it, hope yours will.
Good for Jimmy Carter. I deliberately left him off my list of Presidents that I won’t be shedding any tears for when they die. Not so much because of his tenure as President, which also had many horrible aspects, but because of his exemplary efforts to help poor and common people after he left office.
This piece at Counterpunch concerning Liberation theology, Latin America, and Wikileaks about the Catholic church joining together to fight it may key to a lot of what the ‘hate Chavez’ theme was about. Don’t wanna give those poor folks any big ideas…
When Hugo’s death was announced by the cable news networks many of the commenters felt compelled to describe Venezuela and Mr. Chavez as a “sword in the side of the US.” Not! Rather the US was a sword in the side of Venezuela! Did Mr. Chavez ever attempt a coup in the US?
Rest in peace, Mr. Chavez.
And thanks metamars.
I felt very sad to hear of his death. I was one who agreed with his description of Bush at the UN back in Iraq invasion days. The world has lost a great leader.
Is this the quote, juliania?
“And it smells of sulfur still today,” he laughed, at the UN, after George W. Bush left the stage. He was not the only one who smelt it, but he was the only one who dared to say it.
‘Chavez’s Triumph’ by ANDRE VLTCHEK at Counterpunch. I only wish more folks had written about him before he died.
RIP Hugo Chavez, a great revolutionary
Viva la Revolucion Bolivariana
By the way, Capriles will be the opposition candidate; Nicolas Maduro is Chavez’ second in command and will represent the ruling party in elections. He will be the clear favorite. Unlike what the western media is implying, this revolution will not end here, just as Cuba’s didn’t fall apart when Fidel stepped down. The conclusions are understandable, though, from institutions that can’t fathom dedication to convictions.
Farewell, Uncle Hugo, you were one of my favorites. Hello, Maduro, who will win the mandatory elections in a month or so.
Did you know Maduro started off as a bus driver, Metamars? Then he was a union organizer, then he joined Chavez’ movement when the latter was imprisoned after his first failed coup attempt in the early 1990′s. He worked his way up, and was Venezuela’s foreign minister for several years. He became quite respected in diplomatic circles for his sharp negotiating skills and for his ability to propose agreements of mutual aid.
The Venezuelan opposition has always underestimated him because of his working class background. Probably the American government will do the same.
Recc’d.
No, I certainly did not. I’m glad he has political smarts, but I hope he has and maintains both empathy for the poor, as well as courage to stay strong against the well heeled.
If he has a strong enough moral center, that certainly makes things easier. However, I hope the Bolivarians have paid attention to how to ‘help’ keep their politicians honest. In a society of any size, you need to have division of labor. So when you get the inevitable bad apples, you don’t have the accessibility for moral suasion by the ‘little people’ that one has separated from.
Nobody can design a system impervious to human corruption. I’m not sure, but I think Chavez was big on empowering local groups, which should help make bad apples at the top less fatal. (However, as we’ve seen in America, the 1% are never ending in their quest to consolidate riches and power. Eternal vigilance, freedom, all of that, are necessary in all societies.)
Do you think the Maduro guy will be better at the practical side of governance? The Chavez administrations have been criticized for not maintaining their oil industry infrastructure. Of course, we know that the Big Oil multinationals wanted him to fail. However, the buck has to stop, somewhere, so that can’t be used as more than a temporary excuse. The Venezuelan government has to take care of business, even when the business is nationalized.
attempts indeed CT … the media tools being tools …
When Hugo did that at UN it was a genuine moment in tell it as it is diplomacy … I liked that Hugo said it … was as good as Bush getting a show tossed at him in Baghdad… ;->
Obomba should get the same sometime… Obomba has it coming in aces…
Catch Up Edit — ‘show’ should be ‘shoe’ on Line 3 @ #21 … why don’t I catch these until post Submit … quite annoying …