FPA Video Interview: Former Venezuelan Diplomat Diego Arria on Chavez’s Venezuela
The Foreign Policy Association and The European Courier in February 2008 produced a Video Interview on Chavez’s Venezuela and the future of democracy in the country in a frank discussion with former UN Permanent Ambassador to the United Nations for Venezuela Diego Arria. In the interview, Arria describes how Chavez’s actions in the last few weeks and over his term as President have done nothing but to hinder the progression of rights and erode the political structures which exist in Venezuela. Chavez’s recent actions in accusing Colombia of working with the United States in order to assassinate him and his support of FARC rebels in recent political statements will only hurt Venezuela in the long run, according to Arria. The question of Democracy and Freedoms are compared with the legality of Chavez’s political actions in the recent loss a referendum to extend his Presidential powers and his suppression of Venezuelan media and the rights that oppose his Presidency. Arria also goes into how Chavez is keeping Venezuela out of the recent political and economic progress in Latin America that started in many nations of South America and offers his views on the possible outcomes of Chavez’s time leading Venezuela in the near future. Please take the time to listen to Arria’s sobering interview!
To see the FPA/European Courier interview with Diego Arria, click here.
To see Diego Arria’s Interview Video see below or click here:
February 22nd, 2008 at 7:21 am
In which ways has Venezuela become less democratic? Is it the increased participatory democracy, a fundamental pillar of all Chavez’s referedums/reforms? To broaden social inclusion? His desire to increase or consolidate political power is hardly atypical, most Western countries have banned presidential term limits SO AS they are elected democratically by their constitutients….. Instead of focusing on Chavez himself, perhaps you could focus on the positive changes he has brought towards Venezuela..
March 5th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Good Day Sarah,
If you read the next post, you will see an article about eye care for Latin America’s poor. This is a positive development of course as well as many of his policies in trying to tackle poverty in Venezuela and Latin America. Poverty is the cause of many of the region’s ills and he does deserve respect for these policies. Much of his success in Venezuela are due to slow growth in the past and the lack of aid to much of Latin America’s poor. Where criticisms arise are from many of his methods on other issues as opposed to the means of his actions. You are right to say he has many democratic virtues, but these virtues should go beyond just voting and to legislative and social democracy. As O’Donnell comments in one of his articles, democracy is more than just elections, and elections are only the beginning of a healthy democracy. Where Chavez is trying to hold more power than one should in a democracy is by using referendums to override parts of the Venezuelan constitution to enshrine his presidential powers, perhaps indefinetly. This is quite anti-democratic as Constitutions are present to prohibit in control of power in the hands on one branch of Government or one individual. So as you can see, its not as I wish to show an all negative or all positive impression of Chavez, but he should be praised for his good policies and criticised for his bad ones…as would any leader.