What price is Chavez Frias willing to have his people pay?

www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, February 09, 2003 - 1:11:38 AM By: Will West

Date: Sat, 8 Feb 2003 00:52:38 -0800 From: Will West thewillies@cox-internet.com To: Editor@VHeadline.com Subject: A Letters to the Editor Submission

Dear Editor: The (perhaps fatal) damage Chavez has inflicted upon Venezuela's democratic form of government is unforgivable.  It is my belief that, in the long run, maintaining a healthy, functioning democratic form of government (including a "loyal opposition") will do more to increase and ensure the prosperity of all Venezuelans than any amount of heavy-handed economic tinkering.

Comparisons between Chavez and Hitler are obvious -- not with regard to the scale of the evil they represent, but with regards to the similar patterns their careers have followed thus far.  Several observers of the Venezuelan situation have noted this similarity, but let me mention one more example:  Both Hitler and Chavez have used gangs of armed thugs to intimidate (and worse) those who disagreed with them.  Hitler had the S.A., the brown shirts, while Chavez has his Bolivarian Circles (who have been used to intimidate and harass the free press, attack and kill protesters, etc.).  How can educated people reconcile support of Chavez (as a benign socialist?) with his use of Hitlerian (fascistic) tactics?  Can any good can come of this practice?

It seems as if many of Chavez's most vociferous supporters in the "Letters" area of VHeadline profess ideologies to the extreme left.  Although there is nothing necessarily wrong with being a leftist, it is the extremity of their position that seems to allow them to overlook Chavez's many negative aspects and to justify his actions.  Their devotion appears to be driven more by their own ideology than by any real resemblance between Chavez and a benign leftist head of state.

Do the ends Chavez envisions justify the means means he has chosen? 

What price is he willing to have his people pay in order to enforce his will? 

Is any price whatsoever acceptable? 

Where does Hugo Chavez Frias draw the line between acceptable means of political/economic change and unacceptable?

I ask these questions in order to give your readers who are Chavez apologists a way to determine for themselves if the label "extremist" (for whom the ideological end ALWAYS justifies the means) fits, or if their ideology is leavened with some modicum of humanity.

• Lest anyone believe that I am some kind of right-wing, whacko extremist, let me say that I have never been accused of extremism (I lack the energy).

The only area in which my views even approach extremism regards my belief that functioning democratic forms of government are far and away superior to all others when it comes to ensuring the greatest degree of human happiness and prosperity for the largest proportion of people.  I would be greatly relieved if more Chavistas shared this belief.

Sincerely, William West thewillies@cox-internet.com