By Dr. Sawraj Singh
The victory of Hugo Chavez in the just held Presidential election in Venezuela represents a growing challenge to the American hegemony in the region. He was elected for the fourth time. His fourth term starts in January 2013. He got about 55% votes while his opponent, Capriles, got about 45% Hugo Chavez is the architect of the concept of the twenty first century socialism. This has two principles : Greater Nationalization and more rights to the poor.
These principles are exactly the opposite of the American led Imperialist Globalization which has three basic principles: Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization. In South America, which is considered the American backyard, Hugo Chavez’s principles of twenty first century socialism are getting a great response. A growing number of countries, such as Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, are seeing the increasing influence of the leftists, the socialists and the anti globalization forces.
Hugo Chavez’s victory is not only posing a great challenge to the American hegemony and the western domination in South America but also in the whole world.
This will help to balance the unbalanced western influence in the world. Hugo Chavez has played a great role in improving the relations of South America with the countries like China, Russia and Iran. He has helped to strengthen the region’s economic relations with China and military relations with Russia.
Hugo Chavez is a great admirer of Simon Bolivar and Fidel Castro, and is a staunch supporter of Cuba. This will be no exaggeration to state that after Castro, Hugo Chavez has become the greatest leader for the leftist, the socialist and the pro people forces in Latin America. Latin America has become the subcontinent which has the strongest support for such ideologies in world. The credit for this situation goes to Hugo Chavez. He also deserves credit for challenging America in its own backyard.
Even the American and the western newspapers seem to be accepting Hugo Chavez’s growing clout. The Times magazine had declared Hugo Chavez as man of the year and put his picture on the cover page. The British magazine New Statesman had included Hugo Chavez in its list of the 50 most powerful persons in the world.
I can give a personal example also. When my son was being interviewed for the University of Washington medical school in Seattle in 2006, he was asked that who was the most influential person in the world? He replied that Hugo Chavez was the most influential person in the world. His answer was very well received and he got maximum marks in the interview.
Hugo Chavez’s victory proves that opposition to the liberalization, Privatization and Globalization policies, of the Imperialist Globalization is growing in the world. The time has come to replace the American hegemony and the western domination with a multipolar world order.
Dr. Sawraj Singh, MD F.I.C.S. is the Chairman of the Washington State Network for Human Rights and Chairman of the Central Washington Coalition for Social Justice. He can be reached at [email protected].
