I believe that this is the fatal flaw of the Chavez administration

www.vheadline.com Posted: Monday, February 24, 2003 By: Daniel Burnett

Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2003 08:52:30 -0500 From: Daniel Burnett dburnett1@nyc.rr.com To: Editor@vheadline.com Subject: Listening with an open mind

Dear Editor: I would like to respond to the most recent editorial by Mr. Gustavo Coronel entitled "President Chavez' Bedside Manners."  Mr. Coronel seems concerned that most VHeadline readers don't have a proper appreciation of Chavez' manner of speaking. Actually, I think a great many do.

All of President Chavez' speeches are transmitted over the internet by Venezolano de Television www.venezuela.gov.ve -- I personally find most of his speeches good, some excellent, and some bad.

For example, I found this Sunday morning's "Alo Presidente" speech to be very good. I don't normally react to speeches that I hear over the Internet, but he had me rolling in laughter as he parodied Carlos Ortega and Carlos Fernandez. And his points regarding the necessity of taking legal action against those who led the "strike" couldn't have been better put.

Yes ... his speeches are sometimes pedantic, and often way too long, but I would rather listen to him than Carlos Ortega any day. Yes ... there are too many "cadenas" but maybe if the commercial networks did anything but transmit 24/7 anti-Chavez propaganda he would feel less need to have them. Yes ... he would do everyone, including himself, a favor if he expunged the word 'fascist' from his vocabulary ... but the word 'coupster'?

It's appropriate, no?

I mean pretty much everyone in an opposition leadership position supported the April coup didn't they?

Many of them were in Miraflores celebrating as I recall. And aren't their current anti-military histrionics the result of the military being unwilling to undertake another coup attempt?

If you can think of a more appropriate word to describe this behavior by the opposition leaders by all means let us know. Contrary to what Gustavo Coronel implies, Chavez is generally quite calm, composed and soft spoken during his speeches.

• But no one should just take my word for it ... log on to the next "cadena" or "Alo Presidente" show and listen for yourself.

I hope you don't take the above the wrong way. As I have mentioned to Gustavo Coronel before, I appreciate his commentary and always look forward to reading it.

As with Chavez' speeches, I find many of his articles quite good, some excellent, and some just plain terrible.  But I am always very grateful to him for writing them, and VHeadline for publishing them. The great attribute of VHeadline is that it publishes letters and commentary irrespective of their pro- or anti-Chavez sentiment. After all, you learn the most when you listen to those with whom you disagree.

Unfortunately, this concept seems lost on most of the opposition. Take for example any of the English-language opposition web sites -- Vcrisis, Caracas Chronicles, Devils Excrement, etc.

Where are their equivalent of Gustavo Coronel? They don't have one.

Where are their "Letters to the Editor" where voices from across the political spectrum can be heard? They don't exist.

But for the people who create these web sites it makes sense ... in their view there is only one truth in Venezuela and they have a monopoly on the it ... so why bother to entertain other points of view when theirs is the only valid one?

Of course, the creators of these web sites are free to feel that way =- they have no responsibility to the public -- but as you must know, their disdain for contrarian views extends to virtually all the commercial media in Venezuela. And that media does have public responsibilities which they willfully ignore.

• Gustavo Coronel says that Chavez devotes much more time to discussing politics than to discussing the economy and his plans to improve it.

That is certainly true. However, it is difficult to focus on the hard work of economic development when you have to deal with an opposition that spends every minute of every day ... and uses all means, legal and illegal, to overthrow the government.

Maybe, if he could spend less time trying to figure out which members of the officer corps have been bribed into carrying out a coup against him, he could spend more time thinking about what would be an appropriate monetary policy for Venezuela.

Do I think that Hugo Chavez has a coherent plan to develop Venezuela's economy and take its society forward? No, I do not. Without going into detail I will say that I believe that this is the fatal flaw of the Chavez administration. However, this is really a very big topic and would need to be addressed in other letters. I will say this though.

The people who currently run and support the opposition are largely the same people people who made economic policy in Venezuela for the past half century. Clearly they didn't have a coherent and workable development plan either, based on the condition in which Venezuela found itself in 1998. And it doesn't appear that they have used the past 4 years to develop one either. If they have, why don't they ever discuss it or publish it somewhere we can all read and debate it?

So as distasteful as the idea may be to you, maybe you should be a bit more attentive to what Chavez says in his speeches and less attentive to his body language. And as difficult as it may be, try listening with an open mind. Although I am sure you will still disagree with 99% of what he says, you may find yourself occasionally reacting to his statements as I occasionally react to your commentary -- "Gee, I guess he does have a point there".

Regards Dan Burnett dburnett1@nyc.rr.com New York, USA