Hugo Chavez Is Dead

The man who had been Venezuela's youngest elected president in 1998, Hugo Chavez, has died of pelvic cancer.

Both his Vice President (and the one who will represent his party in next month's elections) and opposition leader have called for unity:

Tearing up as he announced Chavez's death after a long battle with cancer, (VP) Nicolas Maduro called on Venezuelans to remain respectful.

"We must unite now more than ever," Maduro said.

Henrique Capriles Radonski, a former presidential candidate and opposition leader, said Venezuelans should come together.

"This is not the time for difference," he said. "It is the time for unity. It is the time for peace."

There will be seven days of national mourning, during which flags will hang at half mast. Cuba and Ecuador will also honor him with three days of mourning each.

Not all shared in the spirit of celebrating the man who brought more equality to his people, land reform, sensible nationalization and anti-poverty programs: U.S. Rep. Ed Royce, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs (a position maybe he shouldn't have been in charge of, but then again, Michelle Bachmann is head of the House Intelligence Committee, and she had less than a third of a brain) had this to say:

"Hugo Chavez was a tyrant who forced the people of Venezuela to live in fear. His death dents the alliance of anti-U.S. leftist leaders in South America. Good riddance to this dictator. Venezuela once had a strong democratic tradition and was close to the United States. Chavez's death sets the stage for fresh elections. While not guaranteed, closer U.S. relations with (this) key country in our Hemisphere are now possible."

 Except this dictator was elected four times (with 52.8% of the votes in 1998, 59.8% in 2001, 63% in 2007, and another believable margin in 2012), and his food pricing policy alone is responsible for bringing total food consumption over 26 million metric tonnes in 2012, a 94.8% increase from 2003 - meaning he fed his people regardless of class, which should be the beginning of the bottom line for any state leader. Says the Wiki gods:

In October 2009, the Executive Director of the National Institute of Nutrition (INN) Marilyn Di Luca reported that the average daily caloric intake of the Venezuelan people had reached 2790 calories, and that malnutrition had fallen from 21% in 1998 to 6%.

And while our leaders always seem to forget bringing up human rights when dealing with, say, China, or while we tend to overlook human rights abuses from our military and political leaders and suspend others' rights (seemingly) at will, Chavez increased protections for indigenous peoples and women, and established the rights of the public to education, housing, health care, and food - all by referendum, meaning he got the required number of majority votes to do so each and every time.

How many of our governemnts' decisions make it through such a rigorous process, and how many times do they work for the greater good? Pretty much none, yeah.

I don't care what anyone thinks of Chavez, honestly - I'm ambivalent myself. But he's he was a better politician than 99% of the assholes we're paying with our taxes in North America, that's for sure.