Venezuela - Revolution as Spectacle analyses the Chávez regime from an antiauthoritarian Venezuelan perspective. It debunks claims made by Venezuelan and U.S. rightists that the Chávez government is dictatorial, as well as, claims made by Venezuelan and US leftists that the Chávez government is revolutionary. Instead the book argues that the Chávez regime is one of a long line of Latin American populist regimes that revolutionary - "rhetoric aside" - ultimately have been subservient to the United States as well as to multinational corporations. The book concludes by explaining how Venezuela's autonomous social, labour, and environmental movements have been systematically disempowered by the Chávez regime, but that despite this they remain the basis of a truly democratic, revolutionary alternative."--Cover. Includes bibliographical references (p. [225]-227) and index.
Contents:
Leftist reaction to the Bolivarian revolution -- Daily life in revolutionary Venezuela -- The devil's excrement -- Populism and militarism -- Social movements -- The Bolivarian political process -- The challenge of the future.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.