The Chavez-led government's increasing solidarity with Fidel Castro's Cuba unsettles the elite of Venezuela and threatens to upset the United States' designs for Latin America.
A FEW hundred Venezuelan doctors paraded on the streets of Caracas in the second week of July to protest against the Cuban doctors and para-medical staff working in their country. They maintain that Cuban doctors are depriving qualified Venezuelan doctors from earning a livelihood. The other allegation, which has few takers, is that the real goal of the Cuban doctors and other professionals is "political subversion".
The Cubans are deployed mainly in poverty-stricken barrios (neighbourhoods) and remote areas of the country. Before their arrival in Cuba, many Venezuelans had little access to basic medical facilities. Some of them in rural areas had not been to a hospital in their entire lives, and for others, the costs involved in getting hospital treatment were beyond their means. Venezuelan doctors, on the other hand, prefer to be based mainly in the capital, catering to the needs of the wealthy elite.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has made it his government's priority to bring at least primary health care within the reach of ordinary people. Medical services have now become virtually free for the poor.
The decision of the Cuban and Venezuelan governments to enhance their cooperation in various fields has come in the face of growing hostility from Washington towards the progressive government led by Hugo Chavez. Washington's undisguised anger only increased after Chavez triumphed in the "recall referendum" held last year (Frontline, September 10, 2004). Cuba and Venezuela's vociferous call for an alternative to the U.S.-led Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) has further infuriated the Bush administration. Cuban President Fidel Castro and Chavez have instead proposed the creation of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), a hemispheric pact that would accelerate regional integration in Latin America.
The significant rise in global oil prices has provided a timely boost for the Venezuelan economy. Chavez is determined to use this windfall to achieve the goals of eradicating illiteracy, spreading health care and achieving his vision of a "Bolivarian" state. The Venezuelan government has increased social spending dramatically, establishing hospitals, schools and medical colleges all over the country. Chavez's Bolivarian vision encompasses a united Latin America, free from the stultifying influence of the great colossus of the North, the U.S. Chavez had said on his popular weekly radio show "Allo Presidente" that a free trade zone encompassing the hemisphere, as proposed by the U.S., would lead to more poverty in the region. Chavez, who refers to President Bush as "Mr. Danger", said that capitalism is "the road to destabilisation, violence and war between brothers". Both Castro and Chavez want Latin America to act as an independent pole in world politics. This view is being endorsed by a growing number of governments in the region. Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil have left-leaning Presidents. Mexico, Ecuador and Bolivia are likely to follow suit in the not too distant future.
Chavez has never hidden his admiration for the Cuban model of development. Chavez and Castro have been friends for more than a decade. After his release from prison in 1994, Chavez went to Cuba to meet Castro. A paratrooper in the Venezuelan army, Chavez spent two years in prison for leading a failed coup against the corrupt regime led by Carlos Andrez Peres. Peres was elected to power on a populist plank but wasted no time in implementing International Monetary Fund-dictated policies, which further increased the chasm between the rich and the poor.
After Chavez was first elected to the presidency in 1998, Cuba was among the first countries he visited and the two countries started collaborating on trade and political issues. In 2000, they reached an accord under which Venezuela, the fifth biggest producer of oil in the world, agreed to supply Cuba with 53,000 barrels of oil a day at a preferential price, in return for which Cuba agreed to send 20,000 medical professionals and teachers to Venezuela. Venezuela has extended the same facility to most of its Caribbean neighbours. These small nations would have otherwise found the going tough, given the fact that oil prices have been rising for the last couple of years.
After Chavez won the latest referendum in 2004, Caracas and Havana signed another agreement, under which Venezuela increased the supply of oil to Cuba to 90,000 barrels a day. In return, Cuba agreed to increase the number of doctors, health workers and teachers to 40,000. The agreement came at a time when the Bush administration was further tightening the economic blockade against Cuba.
WHEN Chavez took over, Venezuela's international debt stood at over $22 billion. Most of the government's funds were used to service the country's external debt. There was little left to finance the social projects or "missions" that Chavez had promised to the people. Chavez, who describes himself as a "new socialist", has welcomed Cuba's help to transform Venezuela into a self-sufficient country. Today, despite the country being one of the biggest oil exporters, there is great inequality, with a tiny elite enjoying affluent lifestyles, while the vast majority leads a hand-to-mouth existence. Under the agreements, both Cuba and Venezuela have stood to benefit. Venezuela's help has no doubt played a big role in getting Cuba out of the "special period" caused by the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The socialism of Chavez, however, differs from the Cuban model in significant ways. Chavez, while being critical of globalisation, is in favour of a "mixed economy". Despite grave provocation from his political opponents, who control the print and electronic media, he has not moved against them. However, Chavez's domestic opponents, along with the Bush administration and the influential sections of the Catholic Church, demonise Chavez. Chavez recently criticised the Roman Catholic Bishops in Venezuela for "being out of touch with reality". The Church in a statement expressed its disapproval of the government's poverty eradication programme.
Chavez, who describes himself as a "Catholic Christian", said that no other government in Venezuela has been closer "to the mandate of Christ". He emphasised that his "new socialism" and his programme to provide free health, education and job training for the poor are in line with Christian teaching. In his weekly radio programme in mid-July, Chavez said: "Socialism is the theory of Christ - love one another. That's the reality. These bishops refuse to accept it. May God forgive them."
In the face of open hostility from the Bush administration, Chavez has announced plans to form a three-million strong people's militia to protect the country. Senior Bush administration officials have been making threatening statements since the 2004 referendum. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, during her visit to Latin America in June, said that Chavez was a "destabilising" influence in the region. The Bush administration is also unhappy with Chavez for the big oil deals he has signed with China's oil companies. The government in Caracas has seen to it that the Western oil multinationals no longer have a free run in Venezuela.
According to Venezuelan officials, there are attempts once again to destabilise the domestic oil sector by fomenting labour disputes in the public sector company Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA). An earlier attempt to stifle the country's oil exports after the abortive coup against Chavez in 2002 had fizzled out within a short time. A salutary after-effect of the strike was the establishment of the Venezuelan government's firm control over the PDVSA. In the old days, the state oil company operated like a Western multinational, preferring to park its funds in western banks rather than use it for the betterment of the Venezuelan people.
Venezuela still sends 60 per cent of its exports to the U.S., which is 15 per cent of all American oil imports. Chavez has warned that if any American sponsored attempt against him succeeds, then Washington can "forget about Venezuelan oil".
At the same time, Chavez has indicated on many occasions that he was ready for a dialogue with Washington to sort out their differences. The Bush administration, however, seems to be in no mood to reciprocate. The case of the notorious terrorist, Luis Posada Carriles, who, since the 1959 Cuban revolution, had been engaged in terrorist and subversive activities, including the downing of a Cuban civilian airliner, is an illustration. Carriles continues to be in the safe custody of the U.S. government, which had initially said that he would not get a fair trial in Cuba. The Cuban government waived its right to try Carriles, in order to facilitate his speedy repatriation to Venezuela for trial on terrorism charges. Carriles, who is Cuban, had taken up Venezuelan citizenship when a pro-American government was in power in Caracas. He is on the "most wanted" list in Venezuela after his escape from a prison there in the 1980s.
On many recent occasions, Chavez has criticised America's "double standards" on terrorism. He said that Venezuela might be forced to review its ties with the U.S. if Carriles, the man with blood of many innocent civilians on his hands, is not repatriated to face trial in Venezuela.
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