Visitors Seek a Taste of Revolution in Venezuela - New York Times

Hugo Chavez has quite a skill. By doing lots of good things, he hides the bad things he's doing or the good things he could be doing that he is ignoring.
It's interesting that these people talk about an "alternative" to globalism and the "imperialism" of the U.S. They make it sound like a new idea. Yet everything Chavez is doing has been done before. The article makes numerous references to Mao, Cuba, Nicaragua, and other countries that have preceded Venezuela in revolutons that supposedly better the people's lives. Yet Mao killed millions. Thousands flee Cuba every year. Nicaragua is still a destitute country. WHy is this alternative worth anything? We have shown that ist does not work over and over and over. The Soviet Union. Fully communist China. North Korea. Cuba. No socialist government that has fought against capitalismand globalization has won. Always, always, the forces of the market have broken down the barriers people put up. Why? Because the market works. The people in all of the countries are still poor. Is it because evil capitalists in America and Europe are sucking up all the wealth? No! It is because oppresive governments have blocked the wealth we have created from getting into their countries, or have used the wealth to enhance their power and prestige. Hugo Chavez is no revolutionary. His ideas are as old, and older, than Marx. And he will fail. He will lose his power someday. Communism, no matter how watered down, and no matter what mask it wears, will never work. In a few years, the poor who support Chavez will still be poor, while he revels in hi newfound power. Or, they will be a little richer, while Chavez glories in his power and begins invading his neighbors. We've seen these patterns before. One is that of Soviet Russia and every other communist regime. The other is that of Hitler. Hugo Chavez has two things going for him: good PR people and lots of oil money. Don't let his tricks fool you. He is an evil man who does not care the least for his people. He is off his rocker (accussing Bush of wanting to invade Venezuela?) and a threat to th countries around him. To all those dreamers who call Chavez and modern Venezuela a success, wake up. That's all it is, a dream.