Dick Parker

Defending Chavez’s “Bolivarian Revolution” July 2003
In Venezuela, the political climate has become increasingly radical and polarised. Chávez's supporters and opponents no longer seem to speak the same language. As a result, any attempt to analyse what is going on comes up against the problem that the normal sources of information are notoriously biased. Nevertheless, beyond the rhetoric and the confusion, the basic options open to the society are becoming clearer. On the one hand, the hard core of the opposition to Chávez is more evidently committed to neoliberalism; and, on the other, a government characterised by the multiple contradictions typical of populist regimes begins to take important measures, which point in the direction of an alternative.