Synopses & Reviews
In August 2004, the Venezuelan public came out in record numbers to deliver an overwhelming vote of confidence. After many attempts to unseat him, Hugo Chåvez, the former military man who took the country first by coup and then by ballot, again emerged as the peoples choice. It was, in his words, "a victory for the people of Venezuela."
Yet despite Chåvezs successes, having defended his post in six referenda, two elections and against one failed coup, Venezuela—one of the worlds largest oil exporting countries—is a nation deeply divided. The power struggle between the countrys first indigenous head of state and his detractors expresses a larger conflict gripping the region.
In The Battle of Venezuela, Guardian reporter Michael McCaughan captures the drama of challenges to Chåvezs presidency in the courts and on the streets of Caracas. In this detailed analysis of the political forces at work, McCaughan documents the role of the countrys powerful and shrinking middle class, the effects of Chåvezs social programs for his mainly poor constituents, and the rise of the social movement whose members proclaim themselves "Chåvistas."
Synopsis
A probing account of "the most original political experiment in Latin America since the Cuban Revolution"--Richard Gott
About the Author
MICHAEL MCCAUGHAN has reported extensively from Latin America for The Irish Times and The Guardian, among others. He is author of True Crimes: Rodolfo Walsh, the Life and Times of a Radical Intellectual.