Why Venezuela Suffers: In Depth Look at Hugo Chavez's Failures Essay

Hugo Chavez Show

Watching a Hugo Chavez Sunday "variety show" one can see a radically different kind of presentation by a head of state. The first impression an alert viewer in the United States gets watching a show by Chavez is that he is trying to appeal to the average Venezuelan voter as a down-to-earth person like the "man next door." It is pure propaganda but it obviously succeeded in keeping Chavez in power to do as he wished for several years.

His production: here he is with a hard hat talking about how he will grow the economy; there he is driving a tractor talking about agriculture; he is seen on board a helicopter claiming that Caracas will become the first socialist city; and he waves his arms and raises his voice assuring viewers that the slums will be transformed into productive communities in a few years if people will be patient. It is absolutely misleading and that is what propaganda is designed to do -- mislead and confuse. But did people believe him? The Frontline program reported that many people did buy into his rhetoric, his stories, his singing, and his attacks on the U.S. And others like the president of Columbia.

But it was clear in the video that consumers continued shopping in big malls notwithstanding his ranting against "capitalism" (the "capitalistic curse") and "consumerism," so not everyone bought into his rants. Clearly he wanted to be seen as a cowboy, among the most revered of Venezuelan iconic images. That image he tried hard to capitalize on, according to the Frontline video. It shows him trying to use a certain iconic Venezuelan image to try and create his own image as an honest, hard-working "cowboy" leader who could be trusted. But of course it was pure pap, a pithy but powerful propaganda tool that dominated television on Sundays.

The great majority of people in Caracas live in terrible poverty, according to the Frontline…