A Democratic Dictator? Unhelpful Caricatures and Venezuelan Democracy

How many legitimate elections must Hugo Chávez win before the international media accepts him as a democratic leader? The day after Venezuela went to the polls in what have subsequently been accepted as free and fairly fought elections, the Guardian published a survey asking the question ‘Do you approve of Hugo Chávez?’i with two possible answers:

1) ¡Viva la revolución chavista!
2) No, Chávez es un dictador
The implication of this question is that Chávez is a dictator whether you support him or not, a suggestion that is intellectually limited. Such reductionism is both inaccurate and unhelpful in analyzing Venezuela’s democratic process. Unfortunately, this cartoonist representation is by no means an exception in the international media’s coverage of Venezuelan politics.

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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Nicky Pear