Hugo Chavez, a man best ignored: Our view

Hugo Chavez, a man best ignored: Our view
The Editorial Board 6:18p.m. EST March 6, 2013

U.S. successfully waited out antagonizing leftist Venezuelan leader.

Story Highlights
- Without an active U.S. foil, he could not exploit long-standing
anti-American grievances.
- Even in Venezuela, Chavez's legacy is in doubt.
- Had the U.S. historically taken this hands-off approach,
anti-Americanism would be far less of a problem in the hemisphere today.

Few Americans will lament the passing of Hugo Chávez, the charismatic
leftist leader who relentlessly antagonized the United States during 14
years ruling Venezuela. But the more significant fact might be that most
will barely notice his demise.

Chávez, who died of cancer Tuesday at 58, spent his career trying to be
a latter-day Fidel Castro, to whom he was both protégé and patron.

To his credit, Chávez fought relentlessly — and often effectively — for
the interests of his nation's disenfranchised poor, and had he stuck
solely to that goal he might have carved himself the place in South
American history that he so desperately craved. But he was done in by
his own insecurity and grandiose self-image, the incoherence of his
idiosyncratic brand of socialism, and his obsessive loathing of the U.S.

He blamed Yankee meddling (real and invented) for nearly all of his
country's problems; he tarnished his image as champion of the
downtrodden by hanging around with a rogue's gallery of despots, from
Saddam Hussein to Syrian butcher Bahar Assad; and he wasted his
country's oil wealth trying to spread his "Bolivarian Revolution."

But with one brief, foolish exception — tacit support for a failed coup
that briefly deposed Chávez in 2002 — the United States avoided taking
the bait.

It launched no trade embargo like the one against Cuba. It spewed no
vitriol to match Chávez's steady stream of invective. It kept buying
Venezuelan oil. It pretty much left the people of Venezuela to live with
their democratically elected choice.

And in so doing, it deprived Chávez of a weapon that could have aided
his ambitions. Without an active U.S. foil, he could not as easily
exploit the region's long-standing anti-American grievances.

That's not to say that he didn't try, or that he didn't attain some success.

Brazil, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Argentina have leftist leaders
allied to one degree or another with Chávez and Castro. They all share
Chávez's ambitions but, lacking his charisma and Venezuela's oil,
they're even less likely to succeed. In fact, had oil prices not
increased tenfold, Chávez himself might have faded away years ago.

Even in Venezuela, Chávez's legacy is in doubt. His chosen successor,
Vice President Nicolas Máduro, faces a stiff challenge in elections
expected within weeks, and even if he wins, Chávez left behind no
enduring institutions to carry on his legacy. The country remains
plagued by deep social divisions and powerful drug lords.

In fact, Chávez's legacy could well turn out to be a familiar and
pedestrian one: that of the populist leader who came to power
democratically then behaved more like a dictator, claiming virtually all
power for himself and leaving behind little but instability.

For the United States, the message is that absent a direct threat like
the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, our neighbors should be left to find
their own way, even if it is dead wrong.

Had the United States historically taken such a hands-off approach,
anti-Americanism would be far less of a problem in the hemisphere today.

Had it taken that approach with Cuba for the past 50 years, the U.S.
would have avoided a lot of needless grief. Instead, it imposed an
embargo that has served only to give Castro an excuse for his failures.

The lesson to be learned about the Chávez era is that populist leftists
are permanently woven into the political fabric of South America, and
the best way to handle them is to wait them out and let them fail on
their own.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/03/05/hugo-chavez-castro-venezuela-cuba/1966115/