Venezuela Coming Unglued from Within

Wisdom literature says "Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind." This simple principle shows expansion in effect, what comes next is rarely less, but more. In the case of Venezuela what is coming is not going to be pretty, it is a nation of discontent. This discontent seems to flow from the leadership of the Chavez government, but once again, as we have seen countless times throughout history, the people are responsible as they allowed the sowing of the wind; they will see the inheritance of the whirlwind.

It is hard for a U.S. reader to grasp Venezuela, but in this age of instant video communication, the truth is, we are seeing the doors of the Chavez government coming unhinged from the inside out. This protest taking off today is but one of many in a nation that is not content. "The elites in Venezuela are wild with rage at Chavez to the point that they conducted a six-year-long strike in an attempt to disrupt the economy that failed only because the oil money kept it from complete collapse. The bank fraud that crippled the Venezuelan economy before Chavez came to power has been ignored by the opposition as one possible source of its misery." [Pegueros, 2007]

Chavez is a power to be reckoned with, he took over the country in an election process that most have displaced to long term memory not to be recalled. Chavez originally burst on to the national and international stage with a failed coup against President Carlos Perez, for this failed coup, where his request was to be allowed to address the press; Chavez was sent to Yare prison. In 1994 Chavez is released from that prison and in 1998 he is elected as President with 56% of the vote. Since then Chavez has been challenged many times in terms of leadership and elect ability, none of which challenges, including one as recent as 2006, have resulted in his loss of the Presidency.

The levels of discontent in Venezuela are hard to analyze at a distance, as with any country where you aren't physically on the ground observing and experiencing the socio-cultural dynamic, the analysis will be skewed by the distance and the filters inputting to your opine. That's just the way it is, and so, even though we live in an age where direct cellular communications carrying video and audio are taking place, we still are getting filtered data, are there clues as to the depth of this discontent? If we look at the news sources in years past they carry stories about discontent, but we also are aware that news which is good, isn't news, and that same axiom applies in Venezuela. On February 1, 2007 the Times ran an article which pointed out Chavez gaining powers, titled, "Legislature Grants Chávez Broad New Powers to Shape Venezuela." And now in May we see where Chavez has closed down a popular television station which airs views that run contrary to his, and, the people are breaking out into the streets in violent protest.

Venezuela may be coming apart from the inside, this nation needs to be watched, we need to be aware of what is going on in this country, if for no other reason than as they inherit the whirlwind of poor voting decisions; they discover what their leader is really about. Is Chavez a world leader who has sown the wind in his country and will now inherit the whirlwind of his country going down? Let's continue to watch...