Venezuelans Either Love or Hate their Chavez

When I visited Medellin Colombia in June, we met several journalists from Venezuela, and the first thing we asked them was what they thought about Hugo Chavez.

“Well, one woman editor told us, “people either love him or hate him. But really, we don’t care that much about what he does, most of the people who support him are the poor in the cities. It’s pretty much split in the middle” Here Paul Shoul checks out a Venezuelan nature magazine.

I thought that it was a little bit like how our president is thought of…he’s mostly an embarrassment when we have to explain his war policies during trips overseas.

Today’s voting results mean that Venezuela’s ‘Dear Leader’ won’t get the chance to be president for life, as his sweeping constitutional changes were voted down 51 to 49. “It’s a photo finish,” Chavez said, but he will respect the voters and not challenge it.

But he has until 2012 to do more damage to Venezuela…and I predict that despite losing this vote, he will try to cut off supplies to the US, his great foe. I am very eager to visit Venezuela so I hope he keeps it possible for Americanos to come down to his country, despite how much he despises our president.