Hugo Chavez

http://www.buzzflash.com/store/reviews/723

Hugo Chavez: Oil, Politics, and the Challenge to the U.S. (Paperback)
By Nikolas Kozloff
BUZZFLASH REVIEWS

Good Summary of Book on Chavez with a Perspective that You Won't See in the Corporate Media, From an Online Reviewer:

"This book is an excellent primer on Chavez, warts and all. The challenge to the US Kozloff delineates fully and articulately, not least by spending ample time revealing his subject's severe awakening to political and global realities through prison, failure, and a lightning quick mind. The first three chapters patiently define the origins of Chavez's political consciousness, and make the rest of the book more important and substantial. Chapter 3 - 'TINA - There Is No Alternative' - is especially helpful in getting to the root of who Chavez is, and who he might become, and why his appears to be a success with unlimited possibilities in terms of resisting the hegemony of American foreign policy. True, Kozloff is an admirer of sorts, but he pulls no punches. There is much to be admired in Hugo Chavez, as the world witnessed during his recent no-nonsense address to the UN, where he clearly distinguished himself as a determined, even poetic, global thinker. Chapter 4 takes its time outlining the nefarious meddling of Gustavo Cisneros, documenting along the way Cisneros' cozying up to George Herbert Liquor Bush. This is one of the few books around casting a clear-headed overview of the IMF, the disastrous effects of NAFTA, and the early White House plots against Chavez involving Otto Reich (Lockheed Martin), Pedro Carmona, and the CIA. These ideas are fully documented throughout the book with 65 pages of scrupulously detailed notes. One of the most interesting findings in the pages of this book is the struggle against racism represented by Hugo Chavez. His grasp of world affairs and his love for Venezuela come to be seen as inseparable from that honorable struggle. An excellent antidote to the prevailing American government line, it's also an essential look at the aiding and abetting committed by American corporate media in conformist manipulation. A must read."

Another Online Reviewer:

"This is a well written study of Chavez's rise and battle with American inspired/directed/financed efforts to destabilize his regime. Clearly, the author is sympathetic with the global efforts to resist IMF (i.e., US) hegemony and sees Chavez as a prime leader. Of course, most Americans blindly believe the lies that routinely emerge from our corrupt governement sources, but Kozloff paints a picture, perhaps sometimes too rosey, of Chavez's efforts to socialize his deeply-divided country."

From the Publisher:

"Audacious, provocative, and bombastic, few world politicians are as colorful as Hugo Chávez, now making international news for his plans to nationalize U.S. owned businesses and his bold opposition to Washington's economic and trade policies. As Venezuela gains importance as the fifth largest oil exporter in the world, this firebrand leader is quickly moving to the public spotlight by uniting much of South America against the Bush administration and wielding oil as a 'geopolitical weapon.'"

From BuzzFlash:

This book is a great complement to the astounding documentary on the attempted coup supported by the Bush Administration, "The Revolution Will Not be Televised" (which is not for sale as a DVD, but can be found by searching around the Internet).

Chavez is a complex, innovative, charismatic and flawed leader. But you got to hand it to the guy. He has more courage to stand up to Bush than the Democratic leaders in Congress, not to mention the Stepford Stalinist Republicans.

Maybe it takes a populist, emotionally volatile former general from Venezuela to give Bush a few pokes in the snout.

Someone has to.