Is Hugo Chavez a dictator?

[© tweed]

Inspired by Chavez' mentions in "what dictator is the predceding poster most like" thread.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

No. He's more democratically elected than that piece of crap Iraqi government.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

No. Not yet anyway. He's no (small "d") democrat though (yes, yes, yes, he was democratically elected. These two things do not actually contradict each other) and has been acting in an increasingly authoritarian and autocratic way for a few years now.

[Michael Z]

I'd say he's borderline. As Al mentioned, the power is slowly getting to his head. His role is probably comparable to Mubarak in Egypt - a democrat in name, autocrat by action.

[afleitch]

Not yet, but he seems to enjoy their company

[??????????]

Yes, he will be soon enough, so I call him what he is now. Pat Robertson had the right solution.

[DanielX]

Sort of. Like Mubarak or Putin, I'd say.

[minionofmidas]

Not really.

Of course, that he governs with the consent of the governed is relatively irrelevant here - so did Adolf Hitler in the mid-30s - but in many ways his regime is far more responsive to popular demands and needs than the one that went before - and that was always accepted as "democratic" by the US.

[© tweed]

Hitler never got more than 33% of the vote.  Chavez got 58% in the recall election and probably will break more than 60% this December.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Hitler never got more than 33% of the vote.

Not true; he polled 36% in the Presidential election of '32 and the NSDAP polled 37% in the first Reichstag election of that year.

[MODU]

He's more of a dictator than the Bush critics claim Georgie is.

[opebo]

Not a dictator at all, though you are all correct that any such elected leaders have the potential to become dictators.  Chavez is no more prone to this than for example Bush or Thaksin.

[DownWithTheLeft]

Hitler never got more than 33% of the vote.  Chavez got 58% in the recall election and probably will break more than 60% this December.

Saddam picked up about 98% of the vote when he held the election

[© tweed]

Hitler never got more than 33% of the vote.  Chavez got 58% in the recall election and probably will break more than 60% this December.

Saddam picked up about 98% of the vote when he held the election

That was not in a free and fair election, I assume you know this.

Al, I got the numbers wrong from memory, but the concept remains the same, as 37% is not "consent of the governed"

[MasterJedi]

Yes he is.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

No. He's more democratically elected than that piece of crap Iraqi government.

He's also more democratically elected than that piece of crap U.S. government.

[Speed of Sound]

Elected and approved of. Has opposition. Doesnt have absolute power. I would say he's pretty much filling all of the reqs to be anything but a dictator.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

For those making the Saddam "election" comparison:

-Who ran against Saddam in his last 'election"?
-What opposition parties existed in Iraq under Saddam?
-What provinces of Iraq were governed by Saddam opponents? Chavez's opponent in the December election is a governor of one of Venezuela's states. Who in Iraq had any sort of authority that was not a crony of Saddam?

[GOP = Terrorists]

He is probably less of a dictator than George W Bush and his brownshirts.

[??????????]

He is probably less of a dictator than George W Bush and his brownshirts.

**dies laughin**

[John Dibble]

I agree with the posters who say he's at the borderline. I wouldn't be surprised if he declares himself president for life or some such rot.

[minionofmidas]

Hitler never got more than 33% of the vote.  Chavez got 58% in the recall election and probably will break more than 60% this December.

I didn't say Hitler got over a certain share of the vote (although it should be pointed out that in the elections of march 33, marred by intimidation as they were, but nonetheless the highest turnout elections Germany has ever had, the NSDAP and its partners in government together polled barely over 50%). There is no doubt, however, that even a completely free election held, say, in the middle of 1936 or 7, would have returned a pro-Hitler majority larger than Chavez' majority in the recall. The regime was popular.

It was not my intention to equate Chavez with Hitler - to do so is effing dumb; as equating Bush or Ahmadinejad or Sharon or even bin Laden with Hitler is effing dumb - but merely to use an extreme example to show that popular support is not an argument against considering something a dictatorship.

[GOP = Terrorists]

**dies laughin**

Woot one less terrorist in the world.

[??????????]

**dies laughin**

Woot one less terrorist in the world.

Who's the terrorist you're referring to?

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I wonder would so many be calling someone a dictator (despite no evidence that he does not have the support of the Venezuelan people) if were not as anti-American?

The moment Pat Robertson's suggestion is taken seriously is the moment the lunatics take over the asylum.