Hugo Chavez: Socialist for the Twenty-first Century

by Mike Gonzalez

When Hugo Chavez, then President of Venezuela, died in 2013, millions across the globe mourned. In an age where most politicians inspire only apathy and cynicism, Chavez's popularity, radicalism and vibrant personality were truly unique.

Released one year after Chavez's unexpected death, this dramatic and intimate biography traces Chavez's life from an impoverished rural family to the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas. Mike Gonzalez shows how Chavez's 'Bolivarian revolution' aimed to complete Simon Bolivar’s promise of a Latin America free from imperialism.

Gonzalez details Chavez's close connection to the masses and how he enraged wealthy elites by declaring his support for 21st century socialism. He concludes that the struggle for social justice inspired by Chavez can and must continue. This is an ideal guide to Chavez's inspiring life and legacy.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics

176 pages, Paperback

First published February 5, 2014

About the author

Mike Gonzalez (born 1943) is a British historian and literary critic, who was Professor of Latin American Studies in the Hispanics Department of the University of Glasgow.

He has written widely on Latin America, especially Cuba and the Cuban Revolution of 1959. Gonzalez characterizes Cuba as a state-capitalist economy rather than socialist.

A long-time member of the British Socialist Workers Party, he testified in Tommy Sheridan's defence at the Sheridan defamation trial and HM Advocate v Sheridan and Sheridan. Gonzalez is also a member of Solidarity - Scotland's Socialist Movement, the party Sheridan formed after the split in the Scottish Socialist Party.

Reviews

[Inem · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book as a gift from a friend I went to college with when we were students a few years ago. I am reading a lot about and spending time in Latin America right now and this felt very appropriate and timely for me to finally pick up now. Unfortuntely, the author and I have some sharp ideological divergences which made this hard for me to really take seriously. He just assumes that the readership will all agree that Iran, Russia, China, Libya (under Gaddafi), Syria, and even CUBA, are undemocratic or repressive or violators of human rights. He then uses this book to demostrate how Hugo Chavez had the potential to be socialist and revolutionary, but ultimately failed and instead created a 'state capitalist' bureaucracy. Idk... it wasn't convicing to me and because he picks on other countries that the US State Department has also targetted without convincing readers of his argument in regards to those states, I took most of his critiques about Chavez with a grain of salt.

OH... and he argues that Chavez ran Venezuela's economy to the ground through high inflation and ultra-dependency on oil, but he does not even engage with the argument that the sanctions which have been imposed on Venezuela since 2005 have had an impact on the economy. Sanctions don't come up at all. If he disagrees that the earlier rounds of sanctions were economically impactful, then at least try to convince us of that! Make an argument! Don't just ignore the subject all together!

There's apparently another author named Mike Gonzalez who is a right-wing member of the Heritage Foundation and who publishes blatantly anti-communist books. The fact that it took me so much investigation to even determine that this (British-born Trotskyite) Mike Gonzalez and the right wing Cuban-born Heritage foundation Mike Gonzalez are two different people says something here.

I could rate this lower and I might review this rating, but I did learn some things and there are moments when the author gives a slightly more sympathetic perspective to this revolution that

[Aaron Watling · Rating 2 out of 5]

An ok political biography of a larger than life man who probably had a bigger impact on 21st century politics than some would care to admit, regardless of what you think of him. His rise from a humble background, through the army, his development of political thought and his leadership of Venezuela are well charted here.

I thought the author was a bit of a liberal at times and parroted the lines of liberal-left “anti-chavista” socialists (from whom we have seen plenty of handwringing and mealymouthed equivocating since the deplorable invasion). Also the author writes with the assumption that the reader has the same liberal-left views which is a bit of an irritant at times. I’d probably say it’s a decent introduction book for someone learning about Chávez, Venezuela and the PSUV.


Con hambre o sin empleo, con Chávez me resteo!

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Venezuela pick for my read around the world challenge. I was trying to pick a fiction book but realized I know so little about this country and the political turmoil that so much of the fiction was based around. Found this short biography which definitely gave me information, but somehow it was both short but also incredibly dense, and a bit of a slog. Probably should have just picked a fiction lol

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was incredibly excited to dive into this following my abroad semester where I spent a lot of time learning about Salvador Allende and the Chilean coup in the 1970s. While the book lost my interest by the end, I'm happy to have gotten more context into neo-liberalism, and begin my understanding of Bolivarianism and the history of Venezuela.

[Alain · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick read and provided a really valuable overview of the rise of Hugo Chavez: his positives as well as his downfalls. It really helps to contextualise the current situation in Venezuela. Good book.

[Aolbain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, but on point and focusing on the essentials

[Titus Hjelm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Densely packed no-nonsense history that is sympathetic and critical at the same time. Building on the Marxist premise that social change needs to happen from the bottom up, Gonzales shows how Chavez initially seemed to be offering just that, but how his administration soon became party bureaucratic and fell into disarray. Less interested in personal quirks and smut, this small book might not be as enjoyable reading experience as the more sensationalistic accounts, but it is a very welcome correction to the skewed picture of Chavez among Western commentators.