The legacy of the late president Hugo Chavez has left a lingering momentum within many impoverished regions of Venezuela. His compelling and inflammatory rhetoric derived from socialist theory, proved to move the masses during his nearly fifteen-year regime. In academic literature, the Chavez government has been alluded to using ‘populism’ to push their radical agenda. The term ‘populism’ can be defined as an economic strategy that promotes civil unrest, to compel ‘the people’ to rebel against ‘the elites’ and is often used to criticize Venezuelan politicians. (Brubaker, Rogers. 2017). In the cases of Hugo Chavez, populism was a social mechanism that was used to implement the changes that have since exacerbated the Venezuelan economic crisis.
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By dissevering Chavez’s rhetoric, one can gather how his bombastic overtone gave haven to the lower class, who are affected most by economic instability. Chavez was known for his open criticism of the George W. Bush and the United States influence in Latin America (The guardian documentary). Encouraging rebellion towards the elite and openly chastising the United States are two examples of Chavez’s rhetorical populism. Chavez studied at the Venezuelan Academy of Military Sciences and there he learned about socialist leader Simon Bolivar (Hawkins, 2007). Many of Chavez’s policies and political theories are attributed to his idolization of Bolivar. This affected his populism by extending to the economically distressed and giving them a beacon of socialism to counter prior leaders. Finally, to strengthen his bases, Chavez introduced state subsidized food, that was cheaper than the market value, and subsidized housing for the homeless population and engaged in trade deals with Fidel Castro of Cuba to provide health care for those without (guardian documentary). This lead to many uneducated peoples in Venezuela to idolize Chavez; deeming the president as a face to the revolution. This halo affect surrounding populist leaders is not uncommon and is frequently manipulated by
By dissevering Chavez’s rhetoric, one can gather how his bombastic overtone gave haven to the lower class, who are affected most by economic instability. Chavez was known for his open criticism of the George W. Bush and the United States influence in Latin America (The guardian documentary). Encouraging rebellion towards the elite and openly chastising the United States are two examples of Chavez’s rhetorical populism. Chavez studied at the Venezuelan Academy of Military Sciences and there he learned about socialist leader Simon Bolivar (Hawkins, 2007). Many of Chavez’s policies and political theories are attributed to his idolization of Bolivar. This affected his populism by extending to the economically distressed and giving them a beacon of socialism to counter prior leaders. Finally, to strengthen his bases, Chavez introduced state subsidized food, that was cheaper than the market value, and subsidized housing for the homeless population and engaged in trade deals with Fidel Castro of Cuba to provide health care for those without (guardian documentary). This lead to many uneducated peoples in Venezuela to idolize Chavez; deeming the president as a face to the revolution. This halo affect surrounding populist leaders is not uncommon and is frequently manipulated by