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The Forum > Article Comments > Their favourite dictator > Comments

Their favourite dictator : Comments

By Ben-Peter Terpstra, published 19/11/2009

Book review: 'The Revolutionary Has No Clothes: Hugo Chávez’s Bolivarian Farce' by A.C. Clark.

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Nice little rant. Ah yes, from Quadrant.

I'm sure he's no saint, but you didn't mention that he channels a lot of money to the poor, and also that he's shifting power to the poor. Imperfect I'm sure, open to criticism I'm sure, but still they are likely to be better off than under the oligarchs who channel wealth and power to themselves. Too bad we don't hear more dispassionate accounts of what's happening in Venezuela, apart from the threats to the power of oligarchs, international financiers and Washington power brokers.
Posted by Geoff Davies, Thursday, 19 November 2009 10:06:08 AM
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perhaps if terpstra can stop flinging his feces for long enough, he could look up the definition of "dictator".
Posted by bushbasher, Thursday, 19 November 2009 10:12:46 AM
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Rants like this just show how pathetic Quadrant has become in recent years, especially with Keith the wind-bag at the helm.

Quadrant advertises itself as Australia's leading journal of opinions and ideas. And yet it features trash like this.
Posted by Ho Hum, Thursday, 19 November 2009 11:04:02 AM
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Wow, is this silly sort of personal attack what passes for analysis at Quadrant these days?

I'm guessing that the motive behind this attack is resentment that the "revolution" in Venezuela has removed a little power and privilege from the capitalist class there. There's plenty of reasons to be suspicious of President Chavez - his claim to be a Marxist is wobbly at best, he seems to be more a populist who has bought public support when oil prices were high. And it seems that very few, if any industries have been taken under the control of the people who work in them. The Workers' Liberty website has quite a few articles on what happens to workers in Venezuela who take Chavez' talk of revolution seriously: http://www.workersliberty.org/world/international/americas/venezuela

No matter how much of a thuggish buffoon Chavez appears in public, what would be far more useful from Quadrant is an analysis of the various forces in society and their relative strength. And it would be nice to know if Quadrant supports the current Bolivarian "revolution" and just thinks Chavez is harmful to it, or if they think all of the recent changes in Venezuela are bad.

For the record: I think the Venezuelan people should go far further than Chavez is likely to want them to, kick out the capitalists, run the economy themselves and eventually abolish wage labour

David Jackmanson
http://bit.ly/djackmanson
Posted by David Jackmanson, Thursday, 19 November 2009 1:07:47 PM
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"For the record: I think the Venezuelan people should go far further than Chavez is likely to want them to, kick out the capitalists, run the economy themselves and eventually abolish wage labour."

... and presumably collectivise agriculture?

You socialist clowns really are too much.
Posted by Peter Hume, Thursday, 19 November 2009 7:05:00 PM
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