Chávez has also signed an arms deal with Russia, meaning Russia will gladly supply Venezuela with weaponry when need be, despite the ruing of the United States. It is also said that fighter jets and helicopters are also being provided for Venezuela, creating a closer military bond between the two countries. Chávez is also a fan of former Cuban president Fidel Castro and has close ties with Bolivia’s Evo Morales, both considered being dangerous leaders. It can be assumed that admiring dangerous people can only mean that you are dangerous yourself. It is also said that Chávez is known to have a personal relationship with Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Hoesini-Khamenel.
Back in 1992, Chávez let his anger get the best of him when previous President Carlos Andres Perez tried to take a hold on Venezuela’s economic measures. Chávez aggressively tried to overthrow the government when he thought the president wasn’t handling things properly. Another decade before this incident, Chávez secretly formed a Bolivian movement, called the Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement, with his former military officers who revolted against the government; killing 18 and injuring 60 civilians before Chávez finally turned himself in. He spent two years in jail; meanwhile his associates were still attempting to seize power.
During Chávez’ presidency, he was successful in passing the referendum law, meaning that any president can run for election as many times as they’d like. Of course, Chávez plans on ruling Venezuela longer than his current end of term, which is in 2012. Virtually, Chávez can have a never-ending presidency. According to BBC News, he stated that “he needs another 10 years for…Venezuela’s socialist revolution to take place.” His oil exportation to Iran is a way of following up with his plan for socialism in Venezuela. Once again, easy access to exports around the world means there is potential to create harm.
Chávez has also made multiple comments and performed actions to upset the United States government. He claims that the US failed to back up his oust in 2002 when he attempted an abortive coup. Chávez also stated that Bush was “fighting terror with terror” after the September 11 attack and we deployed troops in Afghanistan. He also ignored the United States comment that it was not a good idea to sign the arms deal with Russia, since it might have put other South American countries on edge, and throw off the Venezuelan economy. A second time he called Bush “the devil” while speaking to the United Nations General Assembly.
Work Cited
"Chavez hails Russian arms deal." BBC News. 27 July 2006. Web. 8 Sept. 2009. .
Fukuyama, Francis. "History's Against Him." The Washington Post. 6 Aug. 2006. Web. 8 Sept. 2009..
Fukuyama, Francis. "History's Against Him." The Washington Post. 6 Aug. 2006. Web. 8 Sept. 2009.
This comment is for both Melissa and Jenna, since they both chose Hugo Chavez.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do agree that Hugo Chavez is an extreme threat in the eyes of the United States, I am not of the opinion that he is the most dangerous leader in the entire world.
Isaias Afwerki, however, has the potential and the power to become a serious threat to the world. Mr. Afwerki, if you have never heard of him, is the president of Eritrea, once a territory of Ethiopia. He rose through the ranks of his country, beginning as the secretary general of the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) up to the president of the entire country. Five years after Eritrea’s secession from Ethiopia, Afwerki, still thirsty for more land, ordered an attack on the border of Ethiopia, which started a two-year war filled with bloodshed and cruelty, including “$225 million in livestock and 55,000 homes. The attack prevented planting of crops in Eritrea's most productive region, causing food production to drop by 62%” (CIA World Factbook). Afwerki obviously took into consideration, and obviously ignored, the fact that almost 75% of his country’s trade is with Ethiopia and has essentially condemned his people to agricultural work which cannot even support the people. In addition, Afwerki has been described as “mercurial” and “autocratic”, and has one of the most ruthless secret prison systems in the world, which house an unknown number of political prisoners. According to Reporters Sans Frontières, one of their best and brightest, Seyoum Tsehaye, has been detained since 2003 in a prison known as Eiraeiro, which is described as a “living hell”, even though it is “not the worst of Eritrea’s prisons”. Each prisoner is isolated with primitive accommodations at best, and the motto of the country’s prison system is “If you don’t like the message, kill the messenger.” The Eritrean government acts with astonishing brutality towards all whom are regarded as potential threats to its survival. This means that Afwerki is holding countless political prisoners, and their countries will become desperate to have the detainees returned. Afwerki has almost unlimited leverage in this situation, and this makes him very dangerous indeed, not only because of his uncommon coldheartedness and brutality, but because he can make any number of countries do almost anything to get their people back. Chavez may have more arms and nukes, but Afwerki takes a down-and-dirty approach and will do just about anything he deems necessary.
Works Cited
"CIA - The World Factbook -- Eritrea." Welcome to the CIA Web Site — Central Intelligence Agency. Web. 12 Sept. 2009.
"Q & A with President Isaias Afwerki -- latimes.com." Los Angeles Times - California, L.A., Entertainment and World news - latimes.com. Web. 12 Sept. 2009.
"Quick Study: World's Most Dangerous Leaders | Government | Reader's Digest." Funny Jokes, Cartoons, Magazine Articles & Inspiring Stories | Reader's Digest. Web. 12 Sept. 2009.
"Reporters Sans Frontières." Reporters Sans Frontières. Web. 12 Sept. 2009.
P.S. Sorry for the bad formatting! The blog won't allow me to post any of the links to my sources, but I'm pretty sure everything can be traced by using Google.
In response to Margo's comment..
ReplyDeleteIsaias Afewerki, though a major threat to the people in Eritrea and surrounding countries, is not nearly as much of a threat to global security as someone like Kim Jong-Il. Afewerki’s intentions are quite alarming, and his human rights abuses are ones that we should be greatly concerned about, but he does not have the resources, as you said, to be labeled as “the most dangerous leader in the world”. Kim Jong-Il, on the other hand, has the resources to do great damage to the rest of the world. He has kept an active nuclear weapons program despite global non-proliferation efforts and is thought to have possession of hundreds of ballistic missiles. In May of this past year, North Korea staged its second underground nuclear test, after one in October of 2006. An official communiqué read out on the North Korean state radio claimed that the nuclear testing was for building up more self defense, however, it is never been a good idea to trust Kim Jong-Il’s word. Kim Jong-Il has an element of mysteriousness and unpredictability that the world really has not been able to grasp. The leader has disappeared at many points in time and it is often a difficult or almost impossible task trying to figure out his exact whereabouts. A man crazy enough to kidnap South Korean movie directors for several years to help him make over 20 propaganda films is one that is considerably crazy and dangerous enough to stomp his platform boots over the rest of the world.
Sources:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8066615.stm
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13740160
In response to Jenna:
ReplyDeleteWhile Chavez remains dangerous primarily because of his strict grasp on oil in Venezuela he does not hold the same power as many other dangerous world leaders, namely because he lacks a weapons-capable nuclear program. Other world leaders, such as the Kim Jong-Il and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are much more dangerous, in both their on countries and around the world. Kim Jong-il has been extremely active in creating a weapons-grade nuclear program through both underground nuclear blast tests and dummy missile launches towards outside countries, such as Japan. Kim Jong-Il has been continuing these nuclear tests in direct opposition of the UN, refusing to recall and shut down North Korea's nuclear weapons programs even with UN sanctions. This refusal to submit to the will of the international community proves to show Kim Jong-Il's blatant disregard for anything other then his wants, even at the cost of his own people. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also supports a strong nuclear program, albeit one he continually claims is dedicated only to peaceful measures. He has refused to obey UN Resolution 11737, which calls for a halt of uranium enrichment programs even under strong sanctions by outside countries, much as Kim Jong-Il has refused. He has also had a previous reputation for advocating violence and ignoring history, whether it be refuting the occurrence of the Holocaust or speaking of his desire to "wipe Israel off the map". He refuses to acknowledge Israel as a legitimate, independent country and has repeatedly tried to invoke violence by calling for a rebellion against the "occupying regime". These two dangerous and unbalanced men are a huge threat to the rest of the world, and most take priority over all other leaders when considering threat levels.