Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez Frias
proposed for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize
By Carlos Herrara
Nov 26, 2004
Back to Alternative Reader Index
VHeadline.com commentator Carlos
Herrera writes: Thursday evening
9:00 p.m. on Venezuelan National Radio (RNV) I learned that there are
moves afoot to propose President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,
Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias as a leading candidate for the 2005 Nobel Peace
Prize.
For many people throughout the world
whose information about Chavez is conditioned by mainstream news media,
the immediate reaction to this news could be: ”How could a
“firebrand” like Chavez ever be considered for such an internationally
prestigious award?”
- I
can already imagine the radical opposition thinking this and cannot
believe that such a thing could conceivably happen. The next stage
will be gnashing of teeth and frothing at the mouth!
Readers will recall that, two years ago
Chavez won the “Man of the Year Award” in an internet vote run by
bbcmundo.com against all comers ... including George W. Bush.
The reaction in 2002 by opposition
figures was to send thousands of e-mails to bbcmundo.com insulting and
threatening e-mails to bbcmundo.com, accusing the BBC of rigging the
outcome, and alleging ... without
any evidence ... that the Venezuelan government had “paid” for the
results.
This was just a non-scientific poll
in internet and not something as prestigious as the Nobel Peace Prize ...
so why is Chavez a candidate and likely winner of the Nobel Peace Prize?
Looking at the web page of the Nobel
Prizes at www.nobelprize.org/peace
the 2004 winner was Wangari Maathai of Kenya was awarded the prize “for
her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.”
If these three qualities are key to
winning the Nobel Peace Prize then Chavez has all these in abundance and
more ... he must be the world’s leading democrat having been to the
polls 9 times since 1998 ... he promotes peace by asking for troops out of
Afghanistan and Iraq, so that these sovereign nations can exercise
self-determination and define their own path in the future.
Sustainable and endogenous
development is one of the corner stones of the Bolivarian revolution --
thus alleviating poverty medium to long term.
Other
accomplishments which have been pushed by Chavez’ personal leadership in
Venezuela are the Social Missions, all grouped under the humanitarian
banner of Mission Christ.
The primary ones are:
Mission Robinson --
teaching more than 1.3 million people to read and write in the space of 16
months, a world record in this field
Mission Ribas -- secondary
education for just over 1 million people so far, who were denied this
basic human right during the 4th Republic
Mission Barrio Adentro (Into
the Nieghborhood) -- to provide free primary health care for more than
10 million people up to now, and who did not have access to health care in
the past - unless they paid for it
Mission Simoncito -- care
and education for pregnant mothers and their children from gestation to
kindergarten, to ensure a healthy start to life
Bolivarian Schools --
integral schooling including free health care and meals, with the
objective of inculcating patriotic, humanitarian values in the upcoming
generations
There may be other accomplishments I
have omitted to mention, and am certain that opposition spokesmen will try
to shoot down all these accomplishments in the usual manipulative format
and with their well-known semantic bile. However, it does not
matter what they think ... but what the Nobel Foundation in Oslo considers
to be true and of real value to human development and peace.
The reaction of the USA and and
especially that of Condoleezza Rice will be interesting to observe. Let us
hope that the Nobel Foundation with its 105-year history will have the
courage and independence of thought to consider President Chavez for this
world shattering accolade, without outside interference.
- Chavez
Frias has the qualities and the accomplishments, even though his style
may have upset some influential international personalities in the
past.
It would be very difficult to taint
Chavez as a “dictator” if he does manage to win the 2005 Nobel Peace
Prize ... and the ultimate recognition of the inherent goodness in the
Bolivarian Constitution, whose precepts President Chavez is carrying out
with deep humanitarian convictions.
Bulatlat
Past Alternative Readers
BACK TO TOP ■
COMMENT
© 2004 Bulatlat
■ Alipato Publications Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified. |