Dictatorship has returned to Latin America in Honduras, not in the genuine, if imperfect, democracy of Venezuela
Francisco Dominguez
(Dr Francisco Dominguez is a senior lecturer at Middlesex University where he is head of the Centre for Brazilian and Latin American Studies. Dominguez came to Britain in 1979 as a Chilean political refuge. )
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 14 October 2009
"As Latin Americans witness the return of dictatorship – with Honduras suffering political executions, widespread repression and condemnation from human rights organisations about curtailing of press freedoms – it seems a strange time for the media to repeat opposition allegations that Venezuela is becoming a tyranny.
Venezuela is far from the "dictatorship which has a facade of democracy" described by General Raúl Baduel, who has been accused of corruption. What kind of tyranny oversees a 70% increase of participation in presidential elections, as Chávez has, or the government holding 13 free and fair elections in 10 years?.......
Respect for democracy is intrinsic to the particular model being followed by the Chávez government. It does not resort to violence – it wins elections. In contrast, it is noteworthy that the notable elements of the Venezuelan opposition have broadly sympathised with the illegal de facto government of Micheletti in Honduras. Maybe in Honduras we have a serious glimpse of what "democracy" would have been like in Venezuela had its violent attempts to overthrow Chávez been successful?"
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