The Curtain Call on the Life of a Controversial "Anti-American Fighter"

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez died on March 5. Though Venezuela as a country is not particularly notable, Chávez’s personal influence on world affairs far surpassed that of his country. He was a leader among Latin America’s “Anti-American Fighters” and his death attracted global attention, where the opinions of him can be described as mixed.

Chávez was a democratically elected president and was in power for 14 years, the longest anyone in Venezuela has served as president. He wished to amend the constitution to allow him to extend his term of office. Though his actions in Venezuelan politics could be called “authoritative,” his continual success in elections showed that he had the strong support of the Venezuelan citizens.

American and European public opinion, however, often considered Chávez to be a dictator. In the same manner that Chávez once called President Bush the devil, U.S. opinions of Chávez were equally ugly. In the international forum, Chávez suffered due to the powerful force of the United States and Europe, who again and again called him a dictator; in the eyes of many, he became just that.

Chávez once again suffered in reputation when choosing to be an ally or enemy of the United States, which marked a watershed in Chávez’s time as president. The rulers of the world decided that Chávez was clearly more in line with the political science definition of a dictator. This politically incorrect definition gave Chávez a disastrous reputation.

Latin American countries have what can be described as a love-hate relationship with the United States. Even Mexico and Mexican-Americans have very complicated feelings toward the United States. Latin America’s left-wing forces have been very active, which is the root cause of the anti-American sentiments among the locals. The Latin American economy cannot be separated from the United States economy and the Latin Americans envy the American standard of living. But at the same time, they hate how controlling the U.S. is and even feel exploited by the Americans. This seemingly ambivalent situation is what creates the stage for Latin American politics of the left and right.

Between Chavez’s government and the United States, it was mostly a battle of words. Latin American countries have long accused the CIA of engaging in subversive activities against them but apart from Cuba, the United States does not consider the other left-wing regimes in Latin America to be “out of control.” There have often been Latin American countries who considered the United States an opponent but never actually jumped out of the palm of the U.S., showing that Latin America will always serve as a “back garden” for the United States.

The complicated relationship Latin America has with the United States could potentially be useful for China. Of course, China is not the United States. We do not have the same level of power as Washington, nor do we desire to.

China should be more active in Latin America. This is in line with Latin America’s wish to diversify their allies, getting rid of the United States’ overwhelming power in the region. China’s trade with Latin America has a value of $250 billion, but this depth of cooperation is not at its full potential. When tapped, the potential this collaboration has could lead to dazzling fireworks of cooperation and partnership.

Chávez was an old friend of China. He and his remarks never brought about any harm to China though his grievances with the United States could be left to history to comment on. In his journey to the afterlife, as Chinese people, we wish him the best.