Miguel wrote an outstanding post about former president Carlos Andrés Pérez. If you want to know a bit about Venezuelan history of the last decades, you have to read that.
Meanwhile: what did Chávez manage to say about the deceased politician? The military man said Pérez's family was allowed to bury Pérez in Venezuela, as if he -the current president- were the king of Venezuela and not just an employee of the people who has no business in deciding whether someone can or not be buried in his native soil. The military strongman also kept nagging about Pérez, even if he himself is getting the country into much more trouble than Pérez managed to do (which was a lot).
Miguel said almost everything I could say about Pérez, but I will just add here a couple of points:
I disliked and rejected very much Carlos Andrés Pérez's policies. I marched as a student - peacefully - against Pérez's policies. I wrote in newspapers criticizing those policies. Pérez did not know about economics one way or the other and he lost track of the social impacts in Venezuela. Pérez did not take Venezuela towards sustainable development. He was co-responsible for the crimes during the 1989 riots of El Caracazo. Still:
- The Chávez military men killed in the 1992 bloody coups many more people than what the military killed in the Caracazo when Pérez was president
- Much more has been stolen since the pseudo-revolution came to power than during the two separate terms of extremely corruption led by Carlos Andrés. Think Pudreval, think Jesse Chacón's brother, Arne Chacón (apparently Jesse did not know anything).
- Now Venezuela is much farther away from sustainable development than 12 years ago.
I hope one day soon Venezuelan pupils will get to read history books written by real historians, not by brain washers with one or the other (pseudo-)ideology in mind.
Meanwhile: what did Chávez manage to say about the deceased politician? The military man said Pérez's family was allowed to bury Pérez in Venezuela, as if he -the current president- were the king of Venezuela and not just an employee of the people who has no business in deciding whether someone can or not be buried in his native soil. The military strongman also kept nagging about Pérez, even if he himself is getting the country into much more trouble than Pérez managed to do (which was a lot).
Miguel said almost everything I could say about Pérez, but I will just add here a couple of points:
I disliked and rejected very much Carlos Andrés Pérez's policies. I marched as a student - peacefully - against Pérez's policies. I wrote in newspapers criticizing those policies. Pérez did not know about economics one way or the other and he lost track of the social impacts in Venezuela. Pérez did not take Venezuela towards sustainable development. He was co-responsible for the crimes during the 1989 riots of El Caracazo. Still:
- The Chávez military men killed in the 1992 bloody coups many more people than what the military killed in the Caracazo when Pérez was president
- Much more has been stolen since the pseudo-revolution came to power than during the two separate terms of extremely corruption led by Carlos Andrés. Think Pudreval, think Jesse Chacón's brother, Arne Chacón (apparently Jesse did not know anything).
- Now Venezuela is much farther away from sustainable development than 12 years ago.
I hope one day soon Venezuelan pupils will get to read history books written by real historians, not by brain washers with one or the other (pseudo-)ideology in mind.