Hugo Chavez, a job well done. Rest in peace

But it seems the good they die young. (Dick Holler, Abraham, Martin and John)

It’s the quality and not the length of a man’s life that counts. If a man is assassinated while he is fighting to save the soul of a nation, his death contributes more than anything else to its redemption. (Martin Luther King)

I’m not going to look this up, as I understand the sentiment well enough that it stands without citation. Fidel Castro warned Hugo Chavez early in his career to be careful, that the United States would use democracy to bring him down. If you stop reading there, the message will be lost. Castro was not saying that our shadow leadership lurking behind our symbols of democracy actually believes in any of that stuff. Get real. He was saying that Chavez would have to play by the rules, while the US would not. He would have to fight fire with fire, and in so doing would be at a disadvantage. His every move would be publicized while those of the US would be kept secret.

When Chavez won the 1998 election, the wheels of power started turning. In 2002 a coup d’état was sprung. Chavez was kidnapped and flown to a nearby naval base and given a “your brains or your signature on this piece of paper” ultimatum. The Carmona Decree was put in force, and the National Assembly and Supreme Court were dissolved along with the country’s 1999 Constitution. Democracy, American-style, had been restored. The Wall Street Journal celebrated, champagne glasses clinked. The jackals that always stalk leaders who inspire popular movements celebrated their success. They had taken their country back. But a popular uprising and betrayal of the new regime by military elements brought Chavez back to power.

Here’s a small example of what Castro was talking about: during the coup, Venezuelan TV portrayed pro-Chavez men with guns firing into a crowd of anti-Chavez marchers, showing dead bodies and saying that they were killing them indiscriminately. In fact, as the documentary The Revolution Will Not Be Televised showed, the bodies were victims of the anti-Chavez forces, shot in the head by sniper fire. The men on the bridge were trying to return sniper fire coming at them from unknown origins. The street below them, independent footage showed, was empty. Chavez’s enemies murdered marchers, and the TV used images to blame Chavez.

One side is expected to play by the rules, the other not.

That’s just how it works. There are only a small percentage of Americans vaguely aware of the nature of their own country and the thugs it supports around the world. In our propaganda system, anyone leading a popular movement that opposes US power is demonized, from Mao to Nasser to Castro to Milosevic to Chavez. If you just had a gag reflex at the mention of any of those names, propaganda has achieved its aims. Stop for a second, just a second, to ponder why you know about some leaders, and know to hate them, but not others. One of the most brutal thugs ever to rule in Eastern Europe was Romania’s Nicolae Ceaușescu. Do you know about him?

Of course not. He was one of ours.

That’s how it goes. Chavez was just a man. He dared mention the name Chomsky at the UN, and humbly suggested to Obama that he read Galeano’s Open Veins of Latin America. (Obama laughed at him.) He was begging, just begging to be popped. In the end, cancer got him. I am vaguely uncomfortable about that, as I know that viral cancer was weaponized in the early 1960’s in basements and laboratories in New Orleans. It is one of many ways our spooks can get rid of enemies. But I cannot ever know that for sure – I am always suspicious when a popular and charismatic leader dies young. The Cheney’s and Clinton’s of this world live long and healthy lives. Others, more genuine, are not so fortunate.

The good, it seems, die young.

A commenter here lamented that Chavez had formed a cult of personality, and wished that Venezuela had a more effective democratic government that did not depend on one man. Chavez’s legacy, like Castro’s, will be how long his country remains free of US neoliberal and IMF dominance after his departure. If he invested in education and developed leaders in all areas of government, if he developed a popular base of support for his ideals rather than his personality, Venezuela has a chance.

The wheels in Washington never stopped turning, and machinations are underway now to put a US puppet in the seat of power. The game is afoot. Chavez gave Venezuelans a taste of freedom. They pulled it off once. We’ll see if they can escape the hunter yet again.