Chavez is no Allende. (Letters to the Editor).I lived in Chile and in Venezuela, and I believe that Steven Dudley's comparison of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez with Chile's Salvador Allende Salvador Isabelino Allende Gossens[1] (July 26, 1908 – September 11, 1973) was President of Chile from November 1970 until his death during the coup d'état of September 11, 1973. Allende's career in Chilean government spanned nearly forty years. is utterly offensive ("?Adios Presidente?" April issue). Allende, a pediatrician pe·di·a·tri·cian or pe·di·at·rist n. A specialist in pediatrics. , was first and foremost a democratic man. He was a leader from the same political party that governs Chile today--akin to Britain's Labour Party or France's Socialist Party Socialist party, in U.S. history, political party formed to promote public control of the means of production and distribution. In 1898 the Social Democratic party was formed by a group led by Eugene V. Debs and Victor Berger. . Chavez comes from a quite different background. He was a soldier, and he led a failed coup d'etat, an event that speaks volumes about his non-democratic values. But Chavez's demagoguery Demagoguery Hague, Frank (1876–1956) corrupt mayor of Jersey City, N. J., for 30 years. [Am. Hist.: NCE, 1173] Long, Huey P. (1893–1935) infamous “Kingfish” of Louisiana politics. [Am. Hist. marks the largest gap between the two men. Yes, Chavez does speak to the paupered populace, but he does so with an ideology more akin to the 1940s Argentinian Peron phenomenon. Such an equation of populist discourse and dictatorial vocation could only be called fascism. Alonso Alvarez de Araya Austin, Texas |
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