- Paperback: 272 pages
- Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; Reprint edition (18 Feb 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1403984093
- ISBN-13: 978-1403984098
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 15.5 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
747,439 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #90 in Books > Biography > Political > Countries & Regions > Central & South America
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Review
Reviews of the hardback:
'Nikolas Kozloff's Hugo Chávez is a thought-provoking explanation of why people around the planet hail Venezuela's fiery leader as a hero...essential reading for all who want to understand modern global politics.' - John Perkins, author of the New York Times bestseller Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
'Enables readers to understand the Chávez movement on its own terms while also making clear Chávez's larger significance in the current politics and possible future direction of Latin America.' - Doug Yarrington, Colorado State University, USA
'This book is highly recommended reading for those who want to understand Chávez beyond his rhetoric - the real basis of his support and his actual policies.' - Wenche Hauge, Journal of Peace Research
Product Description
This is the riveting story of ambitious, tempestuous Hugo Chávez, who is making waves through South America and being widely compared to Castro. Kozloff's access to top advisors, opposition, and leaders of Chávez's own political movement allow him to present a comprehensive portrait of Chávez as he moves into the global spotlight.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The book provides a decent look at many policies and initiatives of the Chavez government, including the importance of the control and use of oil revenues and co-operation within Latin America with such leaders as Evo Morales. These elements are key to the text and also of chief concern to strategists in the United States, the author's focus is perhaps explained by the fact that the author works for Washington DC's Council on Hemispheric Affairs. However, the book provides clear and balanced observations on these areas, whilst tending towards the descriptive rather than analytical, they provide a good introduction to the topic.
The book would gain from added sections on domestic policy, such as the new constitution, 'misiones' programs and even (in a second edition perhaps) discussion of the recent failed reforms. These domestic policies are as important as any foreign policy as they challenge a local elite which is strongly tied to the United States and trans-national capital as a whole, hence providing an example which can and possibly is being repeated across the region. The rapid pace of political change in Venezuela and Latin America as whole can make it difficult to provide a comprehensive and exhaustive analysis of Chavez and his government. However, this book (along with wilpert's 'changing venezuela) provides a solid introduction to those interested in getting beyond the media reports either as a casual reader or as the foundation point for academic study.
As a final point, it does not (despite the previous reviewer's remarks) read as pro-Chavez propaganda, although it is not heavily critical, in part due to the lack of in-depth analysis. More importantly though, neither does it repeat the equally, if not more biased reporting of the situation in much of the Western media. This is a rarity for reporting of the situtation in Venezuela, which is in the main heavily partisan (both for and against) and makes the book worthy of note.
The book would gain from added sections on domestic policy, such as the new constitution, 'misiones' programs and even (in a second edition perhaps) discussion of the recent failed reforms. These domestic policies are as important as any foreign policy as they challenge a local elite which is strongly tied to the United States and trans-national capital as a whole, hence providing an example which can and possibly is being repeated across the region. The rapid pace of political change in Venezuela and Latin America as whole can make it difficult to provide a comprehensive and exhaustive analysis of Chavez and his government. However, this book (along with wilpert's 'changing venezuela) provides a solid introduction to those interested in getting beyond the media reports either as a casual reader or as the foundation point for academic study.
As a final point, it does not (despite the previous reviewer's remarks) read as pro-Chavez propaganda, although it is not heavily critical, in part due to the lack of in-depth analysis. More importantly though, neither does it repeat the equally, if not more biased reporting of the situation in much of the Western media. This is a rarity for reporting of the situtation in Venezuela, which is in the main heavily partisan (both for and against) and makes the book worthy of note.
2 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Mr. Kozloff's book is like a paid commercial, his facts are twisted to suit his radically pro-Chávez views. He Ignores hard facts, masks others, hides embarrassing information about Prsident Chávez's totalitarian tendencies, and resorts to manipulating venezuelan reality in such a way that his book becomes an outragous piece of "chavista" propaganda. Mr. Kozloff can not claim to be objective having written this panflet. I wonder what Mr. Kozloff has to say about Mr. Chávez's plans to become President for life?
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
18 reviews
44 of 57 people found the following review helpful
a good antidote to the lies
10 Oct 2006
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is an excellent primer on Chavez, warts and all. The challenge to the US Kozloff delineates fully and articulately, not least by spending ample time revealing his subject's severe awakening to political and global realities through prison, failure, and a lightning quick mind. The first three chapters patiently define the origins of Chavez's political consciousness, and make the rest of the book more important and substantial. Chapter 3 - 'TINA - There Is No Alternative' - is especially helpful in getting to the root of who Chavez is, and who he might become, and why his appears to be a success with unlimited possibilities in terms of resisting the hegemony of American foreign policy. True, Kozloff is an admirer of sorts, but he pulls no punches. There is much to be admired in Hugo Chavez, as the world witnessed during his recent no-nonsense address to the UN, where he clearly distinguished himself as a determined, even poetic, global thinker. Chapter 4 takes its time outlining the nefarious meddling of Gustavo Cisneros, documenting along the way Cisneros' cozying up to George Herbert Liquor Bush. This is one of the few books around casting a clear-headed overview of the IMF, the disastrous effects of NAFTA, and the early White House plots against Chavez involving Otto Reich (Lockheed Martin), Pedro Carmona, and the CIA. These ideas are fully documented throughout the book with 65 pages of scrupulously detailed notes. One of the most interesting findings in the pages of this book is the struggle against racism represented by Hugo Chavez. His grasp of world affairs and his love for Venezuela come to be seen as inseparable from that honorable struggle. An excellent antidote to the prevailing American government line, it's also an essential look at the aiding and abetting committed by American corporate media in conformist manipulation. A must read.
41 of 54 people found the following review helpful
Good Review of Chavez's Struggle with Imperialism
18 Aug 2006
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a well written study of Chavez's rise and battle with American inspired/directed/financed efforts to destabilize his regime. Clearly, the author is sympathetic with the global efforts to resist IMF (i.e., US) hegemony and sees Chavez as a prime leader. Of course, most Americans blindly believe the lies that routinely emerge from our corrupt governement sources, but Kozloff paints a picture, perhaps sometimes too rosey, of Chavez's efforts to socialize his deeply-divided country. Maybe a little more discussion of Chavez's sometimes repressive methods (completely justified in my view when one considers how insidious American subversive efforts have been and still are) would have been warranted also. Though I despise Bush as much as any red-blooded American patriot should, I found Kozloff's constant references to how scared/terrified/concerned Bush and his gang would be by such and such an action of Chavez's to be off-putting and tediously redundant. I thought Kozloff should have devoted more space to Venezuela's dealings with OPEC since oil is part of the title and would have liked more on Chavez's foreign policy maneuverings outside Latin America, but obviously he decided to limit the size of the book. All in all, a sound and somewhat personal recounting.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Objective
29 Sep 2011
Format:Paperback
It is hard to find an objective account of South American politics. It is MUCH harder to find an objective account of Hugo Chavez. This book comes very close.
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