Op-Ed
Commentary
Saab
Lofton :
Presidente-for-Life?
The Following is an Open Letter to President Hugo Chavez
"To
a dark place this line of thought will take us. Great care
we must take."
--Yoda, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
Mr. President,
even the briefest perusal of my work would clearly demonstrate
the extent to which I'm a fan of yours, and yet I
was deeply disturbed by what I read in the August 6, 2007 edition
of the Guardian (UK), "The Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez,
has announced his intention to change the country's constitution,
allowing him to rule indefinitely."
Yes, I understand
such a move must first be, as the Guardian put it, "agreed by parliament and approved by voters in
a referendum," however, this is still disturbing. You've
won three consecutive landslides, Mr. President.
You
survived the same sort of American coup that Salvador Allende,
Jacobo Arbenz and so many others didn't. And your victories in
the War on Poverty (the same war Lyndon B. Johnson surrendered
without firing a shot, by the way) are already the stuff of legend.
But I fear the one enemy Hugo Chavez won't defeat is — Hugo
Chavez ...
Do I really
have to trot out that classic quote? "All power
tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Lord
Acton wrote this in April of 1887, and the famous line is often
misquoted. People usually, simply say "power corrupts" when
Acton actually, rightfully said it only TENDS TO. This means
it's not too late, Mr. President. Promise to leave office when
your term is up in 2012.
I've never been to Venezuela; I don't know everything you're
up against, but I do know you'll only make things worse if you
stay in office for too long.
Besides, there are other types of power. Even after you're no
longer president, you'd still be in the eviable position of being
one of the most influential voices in Venezuelan history. Your
endorsements of future candidates alone would be worth their
weight in gold and then some.
Remember, presidential terms are (supposed to be) temporary,
but activism is eternal.
Believe me, Mr. President, I'm well familiar with right-wing
hate mail; I have more than my fair share of supervillains in
my rogue's gallery, but the one thing all those assholes have
in common is their claim that ANY attempt to share the wealth
will INEVITABLY result in some Stalinistic stereotype (even though
they can never explain Amsterdam's successful balance of free
health care and free speech) ... please, in the name of all that
is holy and sacred, don't prove those inbred, missing chromosome,
penal colony descendants right. Yes, those ig-nant-ass, flat
Earth motherfuckers get on my last nerves too (and yes, the rich
ensures that their media dwarfs ours), but the millisecond we
deny them the right to talk shit, they win.
Three years
ago, it was discovered that over 60,000 poor and elderly Venezuelans
were illiterate because they were blind due
to cataracts and pterygium — ailments which could be remedied
by an operation that none of them could afford. Ever since then,
Mr. President, you've been using oil profits to pay for these
people to (re)gain their sight; your "Miracle Mission" is
truly a Godsend and it answers the popular question "What
Would Jesus Do?" I beg of you, though, don't ruin programs
such as this one by trying to attain more power. Have faith,
the public will demand that your successors pick up where you
left off.
Immortality is for the gods, Mr. President. You are but a man.
A great man
-- one that history will thank, for sure, but a man nonetheless
...
SOURCES:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/venezuela/story/0,,2142710,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/venezuela/story/0,,2133102,00.html
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Acton
http://rackjite.com/serendipity/archives/308-Hugo-Chavezs-Communist-Plot-to-Make-the-Blind-See.html
Saab
Lofton is a fiction author, journalist
and radio personality. Petroleumworld not necessarily share
these
views.
Editor's
note: This commentary was originally
published by COA News, on 08/13/2007. Petroleumworld
reprint this article in the interest of our readers.
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Petroleumworld News 08/15/07
Copyright© 2007
Saab
Lofton. All rights reserved.
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