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Venezuela: Paradise for Workers (And Celebrities, too)
Last week, before a crowd of reporters and photographers, Venezuela's socialist President Hugo Chavez received a very special visitor: British supermodel Naomi Campbell. Dressed in a white Fendi gown, the leggy beauty towered over the president as she praised his social programs for women and children before declaring, “I'm not going to be political.”
Since she wasn't there to discuss politics, what transpired during their lengthy meeting at the gilded Palacio de Miraflores is still unclear. Perhaps Chavez, ever the snappy dresser, shared his feelings about the vibrant silks in Stella McCartney's new spring collection. Or maybe Campbell, who served a week of community service this year for assaulting her maid with a cell phone, wanted to discuss her newfound interest in workers' rights. Understandably, there may have been a few awkward silences.
Campbell is the latest in a series of celebrity special guests to grace the kooky socialist autocrat's presidential palace. Kevin Spacey, Sean Penn, and Danny Glover have all met privately with the president, and Glover has recently agreed to make a film in Venezuela, which will be funded by Chavez' government. It all sounds vaguely familiar. Who's next? Matt Damon?
Hugo Chavez, with the help of his country's massive oil reserves, has done a lot for the poorest people of Venezuela. There is much to be said for focusing on the needs of the disenfranchised over those of the wealthy and powerful, but it is not clear that that is exactly what Chavez is doing. While he has funded social services and subsidized the price of food, his government has relentlessly entrenched their position in power. Dissenting media have been silenced, the constitution altered, and protesting students shot at by government loyalists. Taking the broad view of his policies, it seems that Chavez' main concern, like that of so many dictators around the world, is to remain in power for as long as possible.
Our Cold War-era fear-policies towards socialist states like Venezuela are outdated and ineffectual, and only serve to vilify America in those places. While Campbell, Penn, and the rest seem all too eager to embrace Chavez' party line, their presence in Venezuela, and the media attention they receive only makes painfully obvious the lack of any real diplomacy between our countries.