Petroleumworld`s
Opinion Forum:
viewpoints
on issues in energy, geopolitics and civilization.
Feature
Chavez's
dynamic speeches connect
By John Otis
Unlike
the Venezuela's aloof leaders of the past, President Hugo Chavez
combines humor and personal anecdotes with stinging denunciations
of the rich to connect to the country's poor.
His epic talks mix jokes, opinion, personal anecdotes
"It may be one of my defects, but what I say comes from my
heart. And if it comes from my heart, for me, it is the truth."
— Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
Whether
the subject is George W. Bush or the size of his own stomach,
Hugo Chavez holds strong opinions— and rarely keeps them
to himself.
Unlike
the country's aloof leaders of the past, the Venezuelan president
combines humor and personal anecdotes with stinging denunciations
of the rich. His message connects with many poor Venezuelans,
who gave him a landslide re-election victory earlier this month.
With
Cuban leader Fidel Castro sidelined by an illness that some U.S.
officials think is terminal cancer, many analysts now rate Chavez
as the region's most dynamic public speaker, a talent that has
turned him into a hero for Latin America's leftists.
But critics view Chavez's silver tongue as a dangerous weapon.
His pronouncements, they say, are designed to glorify himself,
degrade his opponents and polarize the nation.
"Chavez
has a very confrontational style. He divides the population with
his words," said Adriana Bolivar, a speech professor at Simon
Bolivar University in Caracas.
'Hello Mr. President'
Shunning speechwriters and using only a few note cards, Chavez,
like Castro in his prime, serves up speeches of epic proportions.
His Sunday call-in TV show, Hello Mr. President, usually clocks
in at five hours.
There's
a method to Chavez's verbal barrage that keeps many Venezuelans
glued to their screens.
"He
doesn't use big, beautiful words or act like he's above you,"
said Belkis Benitez, a Caracas homemaker who voted for Chavez.
"Other presidents were so sophisticated that people couldn't
even understand them."
Street
language
As the country's first president to rise from poverty, Chavez
speaks the street language of the bus drivers, cleaning ladies
and peasants who make up his base. He entertains them, telling
family anecdotes, war stories and even risque jokes, to make his
points.
Pelted
by sharp questions from reporters at a recent news conference,
for example, Chavez sang a Colombian folk song, talked baseball,
discussed his vacation plans and recalled how, after he was first
elected in 1998, it took him a week to find the keys to the presidential
palace.
Chavez
delivers more than just rhetorical broadsides. By spending billions
of petrodollars on schools, clinics and subsidized grocery stores,
he has made good on promises to lift up poor Venezuelans.
As
a result, "people have the feeling that Chavez means business,"
said Steve Ellner, an American who teaches political science at
the Eastern University of Venezuela.
But
while Latin America's populist presidents of the past, such as
Juan Domingo Peron of Argentina and Juan Velasco Alvarado of Peru,
used their oratory skills to appeal for national unity, Ellner
said, Chavez exploits class resentments to drive a wedge between
rich and poor.
"It's
the politics of revenge," said David Myers, a Pennsylvania
State University professor who did polling for Chavez during his
1998 presidential campaign. "He's very conscious about what
he's doing."
Some
comments backfire
Chavez saves some of his sharpest barbs for foreigners.
He
has dubbed former Mexican President Vicente Fox "a lapdog"
for Uncle Sam, called the U.N. "worthless," and urged
Americans to read more books "instead of watching Superman
movies."
But
his comments sometimes backfire. In a speech before the United
Nations in September, Chavez called Bush "the devil."
Although some delegates applauded, the insult is widely believed
to have cost Venezuela a seat on the Security Council.
Chavez
makes no apologies for his strong language.
"It
may be one of my defects, but what I say comes from my heart,"
he told reporters. "And if it comes from my heart, for me,
it is the truth."
It
was another heart-felt speech delivered 14 years ago that helped
propel Chavez, then an army officer, to the presidential palace.
Amid
protests over political corruption and economic stagnation, Chavez
launched a coup on Feb. 4, 1992. Loyalist troops captured Chavez
and allowed him to go on national television to persuade his fellow
plotters to surrender.
Amid
the chaos of the moment, Chavez appeared calm and crisp in his
military fatigues and red beret. He took responsibility for his
actions — something few Venezuelan politicians had ever
been willing to do — and hinted he would be back, telling
viewers that his objectives had failed "for the moment."
The
speech lasted just over a minute, but it captivated Venezuelans
and turned Chavez into a national figure. Pardoned and released
from prison two years later, Chavez launched a presidential bid.
Slap
in the face
Using
fighting words from the start, Chavez once threatened his opponents
by promising to "fry their heads in oil." After he was
elected, he took the oath of office by laying his hand on "this
moribund Constitution," a slap in the face to the country's
traditional politicians.
"That's
like taking your wedding vows by saying: 'I'll marry this woman
even though she's ugly,'" Bolivar said.
Belly laugh
When fellow leftist and political ally Daniel Ortega came calling
in April during his country's election campaign, Chavez persuaded
the future Nicaraguan president to appear on Hello Mr. President,
an episode filmed at a state-subsidized grocery store.
With
the cameras rolling, Chavez wandered the aisles, sniffing a bottle
of ketchup, declaring his preference for chicken thighs over chicken
wings, and comparing the size of his belly to Ortega's.
"You've
got a respectable gut," Chavez told a chagrined Ortega. "Mine
was out of control. But look at me now. I'm svelte!
-
Caracas,
Venezuela.
John
Otis
is a journalist with Houston Cronicle (john.otis@chron.com). Petroleumworld
not necessarily share these views.
Editor's Note: This
commentary was originally published by Houston cronicle, on 12/20/2006.
Petroleumworld reprint this article in the interest of our readers.
All comments posted and published on Petroleumworld, do not reflect
either for or against the opinion expressed in the comment as
an endorsement of Petroleumworld. All comments expressed are private
comments and do not necessary reflect the view of this website.
All comments are posted and published without liability to Petroleumworld.
Fair use Notice:
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not
always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We
are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding
of issues of environmental and humanitarian significance. We believe
this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance
with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107. For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.
All
works published by Petroleumworld are in accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit
to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the
included information for research and educational purposes. Petroleumworld
has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article
nor is Petroleumworld endorsed or sponsored by the originator.
Petroleumworld encourages persons to reproduce, reprint, or broadcast
Petroleumworld articles provided that any such reproduction identify
the original source, http://www.petroleumworld.com or else and
it is done within the fair use as provided for in section 107
of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use copyrighted material
from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use',
you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Internet web
links to http://www.petroleumworld.com are appreciated.
Petroleumworld
News 12/24/06
Copyright
© 2006 Houston Chronicle South America Bureau. All rights
reserved.
Your
feedback is important to us!
We invite all our readers to share with
us
their views and comments about this article.
