What's particularly scary to me is not the fact that Obama met with Chavez, it is that the Venezuelan dictator appeared so happy and eager to meet with Obama. I understand many of my liberal friends will be overjoyed that the United States has, seemingly, entered a new era of diplomacy with nations we have not been so open with over the past several years. However, allow me to assure you, that there are reasons for this.
Hugo Chavez is a horrible dictator who models himself strongly after Cuban leaders Fidel and Raul Castro, epecially Fidel. Chavez is a life-long Bolivarian and has instituted the destructive policies Bolivarianism advocates. For those of you who are unaware of the term 'Bolivarian', allow me to present a very brief history lesson (after all, I am highly educated): The term is derived from the Spanish 'freedom fighter' Simon Bolivar. Bolivar is credited with aiding the freedom of Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bolivia and is still considered a revolutionary and hero among these countries. Bolivar advocated a strong government and iron-fisted leadership, as well as, a union of Latin American countries to control the region. Please understand, I am not vilifying Simon Bolivar. He was actually a very staunch supporter of the American Revolution and believed it was within the colonist's natural rights to declare independence. My issue is that modern Bolivarianism promotes a radical agenda (usually adopted by guerrillas within these nations) and causes great unrest in much of Latin America.
In recent years, a new form of Bolevarianism has arisen, called Chavismo, or Chavezism. This ideology is derived heavily from Marxism and the teachings of Noam Chomsky. Some of the main tenants of this belief are: anti-imperialism, strong central government (authoritarian), socialist policies (health care, etc), control of information (television, internet), etc.
Now, with that out of the way, allow me to get to the crux of my argument: It scares me that Chavez seems to embrace, not Obama, but his policies. One of my main litmus tests for a politician is to see who his/her enemies are. I was very comfortable with Sadaam Hussein, Fidel Castro, Kim Jong Il, Hugo Chavez, and other scum hating President Bush. However a red flag rises in my mind when I see how open these dictators are now to President Obama. We not only have Hugo Chavez extending his hand, we now have the Castros doing so as well. This concerns me. This makes one wonder why these socialist dictators are now embracing the U.S. with open. arms. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but only time will tell.
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