A little light reading from Dictator of the Month:
The National Guard or state police force in Venezuela has been accused of intimidation and bullying tactics of opposition, reminiscent of the Mussolini brownshirts in the 1930's. It is also troubling that nationalism and xenophobia are seemingly fostered by the government, combined with a push to have the population loyal to Chávez and not to the country. He has created a cult of personality about himself, creating the illusion to the masses that he is infallible; as a speaker Chávez has a bombastic style, literally working his audience up into a frenzy.Chávez seems also to aspire to unite much of South America's sentiment against foreigners, notably the United States. He speaks of a continental vision, but clearly not without much influence from himself.
We pro-liberty types have long argued that authoritarians' left or right political identities matter less the more extreme they are. Chavez is a self described leftist, friend of Cuba's Castro, but what would change if he were to identify himself as a fascist?
The answer is that his allies would change. Foreign leftists couldn't support him if he self identified with the political right. That he harnesses nationalism (regionalism, too), intimidates the press and corporations, and supresses labor unions like any good fascist would matters little as long as he can keep his leftist label.
Posted by Walter at March 27, 2006 01:55 PM