Poor Still Supporting Venezuela's Chavez

[ringmastery]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040807/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/venezuela_recall_3

CARACAS, Venezuela - After five years in office, President Hugo Chavez remains a hero to millions of impoverished Venezuelans who see him as their only hope for a better future — and that gives him a good chance of beating a recall referendum this month.


As rivals gear up for the Aug. 15 vote, polls show Chavez has the firm support of roughly 50 percent of likely voters in this South American nation of 24 million people — most of whom live in poverty.


The opposition — a broad coalition of unions, businessmen, private media companies, civic organizations and popular artists, among others — accuses Chavez of dividing the country with his "revolutionary" rhetoric and of ruining the economy. The president's opponents say his social programs, many inspired by Cuba's, are a way of spreading communist propaganda to the poor.


Chavez often accuses the opposition and its leaders of being a rich "oligarchy" that he says long robbed the poor of opportunities for a better life.


To the Venezuelan masses, the left-wing Chavez is leading "a revolution for the poor" by launching far-reaching social programs, dubbed "missions," to help his core constituency.

[BayCityProgressive]

1. this man is the

Venezuelan version of Roosevelt. It is sickening that unions oppose him. Union leadership is corrupt in every country though so it is no wonder.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

3. Sounds like yellow dog "unions" to me.

Getting their payoffs from the capitalists.

[Dancing_Dave]

4. Actually, very few Unions oppose him

The U.S. put oil industry workers with some of the highest wages in Venezuala up to doing a strike against Chavez. It didn't work. They didn't get support from workers making a lot less than they were, and Chavez easily replaced them.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. Viva Hugo! Por los pobres de la tierra.

[Massacure]

5. Live Hugo! For the poor of the ???

What is tierra? I'm not familiar with that word.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

6. Tierra=

earth


El pueblo unido jamas sera vencido.