Hugo Chavez’s mission to create a Venezuela free from capitalist views continues to be a threat to the United States.

Before we can sit and argue this topic, let’s consider the history behind the ongoing rivalry between Bush and Chavez.

President Bush, as a majority of college students, professors and the nation may agree, has not been a successful leader. He led the nation to war that a majority of citizens disagreed with. He manipulated situations through instilling our fear of terrorism to encourage the creation of the Patriot Act, an act that enabled the government to take control of its citizens, and is now looking for an easy escape out of the White House.

His decisions, along with buddy Vice President Dick Cheney, led to his declining popularity and showed his incompetence as the all mighty Commander and Chief of the United States.

President Hugo Chavez has been in power since 1998 and is currently running for re-election under the banner of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, the party he created. Under a new constitution, Chavez wants to eliminate capitalist ideals in Venezuela and has plans to redistribute lands to the poor.

How is that a danger to the United States government? The question lingers without a concrete answer. Washington tells us that history is repeating once more from Fidel Castro’s era into power. The citizens are made to believe Chavez is another vicious communist dictator.

But is he really a threat or does President Chavez simply want what is best for his people? Chavez was not born into wealth like President Bush and he considers human exploitation by the elite a wrongful disease spread by capitalism, as he has mentioned in interviews to multiple Venezuelan newspapers.

Apparently, President Bush’s greed for oil led which him to war with Iraq was insufficient. In 2002 there was a coup, which the Central Intelligence Agency knew about but did not prevent, in Venezuela to remove Chavez from power that was a complete failure.

Whether or not Bush and the CIA were integral in developing the scheme is irrelevant; the U.S. government was not able to topple Chavez, which is all that matters to them anyway.

That fueled his hatred towards Bush, who he considers “el diablo,” the devil. Chavez on the other hand did the unexpected; fought off the CIA and kept control of his homeland who wants him there. Chavez’s population has grown over the years and his followers are in large numbers from the low working class.

Vanessa Guerrero can be reached at [email protected]