laneys.info Beware of Yankees, drunks, and loose women.

I'm sure you've heard the phrase, "There's two sides to every story."  I've found that usually there's way more than just two.  I recently stumbled across an exclusive interview by British journalist Johann Hari with Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez that drove that point home.

If you listen to the mainstream U.S. media or the government officials of Great Britain or the United States, Hugo Chavez is a dangerous, despotic ruler who threatens countless millions of people.  Indeed, the White House mentioned Chavez in its March 2006 National Security Strategy:

In Venezuela, a demagogue awash in oil money is undermining democracy and seeking to destabilize the region.

Well, isn't that interesting.  So what's the other side of the story?  Just this: Hugo Chavez is considered a hero by many in Venezuela because he has given them hope.

In the article linked above, Johann Hari documents some of the differences between the old Venezuela and the Venezuela of Chavez and attempts to determine whether Chavez is following in the footsteps of leaders like Fidel Castro.  He comes away unconvinced either way.  It is interesting to note how the old Venezuela was praised for its democracy by nations like the United States, even while it was brutally repressing the poor and lining the pockets of the rich.  Under Chavez, who grew up poor himself, the slums and barrios of the country received food, medical care, and education.

How did he fund these policies?  By placing greater government control over the oil production and profits.  Uh-oh.  Why is it that these kinds of discussions always come back around to oil?

Hari makes some comments that belie his distaste for current affairs in the United States, so he isn't completely impartial.  Also, having an "exclusive" interview just means that Johann Hari went in as a solo journalist, making himself that much easier to parade through the showcase neighborhoods filled with pro-Chavez flag-wavers.  But in an odd sort of way, what he says still makes sense.  I think it's because I'm tired of seeing how capitalism "improves" our own country - the gap between rich and poor keeps getting bigger, and the U.S. Department of Labor estimates that 7.4 million people (in 2003) were "working poor" - employed, yet still living below the poverty line.  Perhaps one of the richest nations in the world could learn a thing or two from Senor Chavez.  Don't get me wrong, I love my country, but I'm not so naive to think it couldn't be made better.

Perhaps we should look a little more closely the next time a talking head gives us information - most stories can't be told completely in the 30 seconds that constitutes the average attention span in the United States.