News today that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has said that any foreigners who visit the country and criticise his government will be removed. What a wonderful slogan for the local tourist board: if you can’t say something nice about Venezuela, don’t bother to come here.
I liked Chavez at first, for a very brief moment, when he came over for a press conference with London Mayor Ken Livingstone. I liked that he was so critical of Bush and the US and the fact that he was raising the profile of Venezuela by giving away oil to London in exchange for advice on how to run a large city. Then I started to realise that, perhaps, I should take a second look.
Venezuela is a very poor country that needs its oil just as much as London. Chavez, to me, seems to be going around the world peddling his free oil while his own citizens live in abject poverty. Not exactly good politics.
Then the criticisms of Bush just kept coming, even branding him Satan and making jokes that the room smelled of sulfur after he left. Yes, I did find that somewhat funny but at a certain point it ceased to be so. The criticisms came out of nowhere and it seemed that all Chavez did was peddle his oil and bash Bush. I like bashing Bush just as much as the next person but, at some point I had to ask, doesn’t he have anything better to do than occupy himself with what Bush is doing?
With this revelation today, my opinion of Chavez is completely and totally 180 degress from my first impression. I do not like him one bit and the fact that our Mayor, Ken Livingstone, is so chummy with him does not sit well with me either. Quite frankly, Chavez needs to look in a mirror when he makes comments about criticism from foreigners because that’s all he’s done for the past few years. He has made a name for himself and Venezuela but slowly it seems this name is being tarnished as a dictatorial butthead…in my opinion.