Comparison And Contrast – Hugo Chavez And Fidel Castro

Hugo Rafael Chavez and Fidel Alejandro Castro, putting aside their charisma and notoriety, are amongst some of the most well-known revolutionary models and political leaders of the last century. They were both very vocal in the manner they dictated and led their respective countries which put them within the same circles. Even so, they still had their own qualities which distinguished them as leaders in their own right. Although they were known for getting along very well and considered each other very close friends, their governments and personas were far from carbon copies of each other.

Hugo Chavez was president of Venezuela from 1999 till his death in 2013. He was the leader of the Bolivarian Revolution and emphasized his views on anti-imperialism and democratic socialism. Chavez emphasized his ideas on nationalism, executed policies that would advance the status of Venezuela while conducting his own centralized economy. Chavez practiced military force on public issues, making him a very feared and egotistical man to many citizens in the country. After Chavez served in the military, he was arrested for joining a rebellion group but got released from prison after President Rafael Rodriguez dropped all charges against him. Chavez later then worked his way through political parties and eventually won the presidential election with 56 percent of the vote. Chavez fought for Latin America advancement while trying to eliminate any US influence on the world. Chavez’s anti-imperialistic views led the country to an alliance between skilled politicians and revolutionary forces to join to overcome this corrupt government system that had been set in place. Chavez, however, didn’t pay any mind when it came to corruption in the country. Chavez failed to address the issues while roughly 10, 000 people were murdered each year and robbery rates were through the roof. He filled the country with fear, leaving homes feeling worried and inferior. Chavez also had a history of being very discriminatory on his political platform. He encouraged citizens to call his opposers as “anti-democratic” and “coup mongers. ” Hugo Chavez made his intentions, thoughts and ideas very clear throughout his presidency and left the country with newly awakened passions in the heart of citizens and influenced feelings towards the upcoming future for Venezuela.

Fidel Castro was Cuba’s political leader from 1959-2008 who transformed the country into the first communist state in the Western Hemisphere. Castro’s road to leadership was a very long one. He started to organized multiple revolutionary groups, the most infamous one being called the 26th of July movement. Fidel had many victories throughout his battle against the Batista regime, which ultimately led to Castro’s army of 800 guerrillas defeating the government’s army, consisting of 30, 000 members. Castro first was positioned as commander in chief of armed forces in Cuba but in July 1959, the former leader Manuel Urrutia was forced to resign placing Fidel Castro as leader of the small island. Castro built his platform by stating that he would reconstruct and reestablish the 1940s constitution, keeping a safe and trustworthy government team, and give back full human rights to the people. But soon after Castro was placed in the position, he completely turned on his ideals and ethics that he was trying to portray to the people. Castro completely severed US aid at the time, breaking any connection that linked the US to Cuba. Castro started many battles throughout his dictatorship, which immensely tore the country apart. Castro opened the port of Mariel, which caused about 125, 000 of immigrants to migrate over to the US, which raised crime rates in Miami, hurt the capacity amount of immigrants allowed in the US and caused resettlement issues. Free education led to many residents with degrees, from what which Castro used to his advantage making them work for him from home. Many imports that Cuba received were cut off, leaving the remaining Cubans to invent and repair what they could from the scraps they were left with. Castro deceived and broke the trust within the entire nation, using residents to be part of his government scheme, which destroyed their economy, infrastructure, ideals, morals, etc. Cuba now is a result of the disaster that Castro had been making throughout his years in power.

There is no doubt in history that Fidel Castro had a great impact on the Venezuelan government. Hugo Chavez had idolized Castro ever since he was a young boy. As Chavez rose to power, he and Castro had developed a great and intimate friendship between them. Both dictators rose to power by rebelling against their former government. Both of them were very unhappy with eh manner that government ran in their countries at the time, which led to start a force which tried to overthrow the current government. Castro used Chavez in his own benefit because Venezuela’s land was rich with resources and oil, which would fall into Castro’s own personal benefit for Cuba. Both leaders shared the same values and morals when trying to win over the people. They sold the image of being someone who wanted to fight for the rights and advancement for the people, and the residents of their country believed every word they said. Castro had sent Cuban advisers to watch over every governmental stature in Venezuela, making sure that he had a clearer image of what was happening inside the state and keeping Chavez in “check. ” Both Chavez and Castro had eliminated any US influence that might have taken place in their countries. Each broke many trade agreements and disrespected the nation publicly, encouraging their residents to do the same. Castro had advised Chavez to start a free health care and education system in Venezuela, in order to advance the literacy and work rate in Latin America. Castro strived for Latin America improvement to be more respected and noticed in the world among the other first world countries. Cuba and Venezuela had a very complementary relationship, where Chavez had signed an agreement where Venezuela supplies Cuba with 130, 000 barrels of oil a day and Cuba had supplied military support to Venezuela’s guerrillas Castro had seen a very big potential in Chavez’s life, he raised Chavez as his political son and taught him many of the things he had done as dictator. Chavez stated, “Fidel to me is a father, a comrade, a master of perfect strategy. ”

For twenty years, these leaders were the closest of friends, allies and companions, sharing ideas and viewed government almost identically. In the words of Chavez, he once declared, “Deep down, we are one single government. ” Although Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro were known to be the best of friends and side-by-side dictators, each of them governed their own country individually and had slight differences between them. Fidel first came into power in the 1950s, at that time the internet hadn’t been invented and any form of outside or international communication was not that common, especially for the common middle/lower class residents of Cuba. Castro’s main component of his whole electoral campaign was to sell false promises to the people, blame other countries and previous government for the failure that foregoing at that time to give false hope to Cubans, eventually believing the words said by Castro and believing him. Castro fortunately, knew there would be no way the residents would get proof or information about Castro’s statements because there was no form for them to receive it. In addition, Cuba’s physical geography played a huge role in Castro’s favor, it was an island. The chances for outside communication or source were already slim due to media and access to public information being very limited, but Cuba, being an island in the middle of the Caribbean, made possibilities for Cubans to have any awareness or comprehension of Castro’s campaigning strategies even weaker. For Fidel, it was much easier to manipulate the citizens’ opinions and hide the facts from brought out to light. On the contrary, Chavez’s rise to power was in an era where social media, modern technology and online research were very accessible due to the internet being used and displayed around the globe. Chavez had to win over the people’s vote by using very realistic and factual information, knowing that later on throughout his years of service were ought to change anyway. Also, Chavez didn’t have the advantage that Cuba had of being an island. Venezuela was a country with land borders, increasing the chance of direct communication, easier chance to flee from the country or to let neighboring countries know about what is happening inside government.

Lastly, both leaders’ use of natural resources and social programs throughout the country, ended with different results. Castro gave Cuba free healthcare, built a successful biotech industry, and a free and improving education for all residents. These changes helped lower infant mortality rates and made literacy rates in the country soar. On the other hand, Chavez’s attempts at installing such programs gave stagnant results and accomplished much less than Castro. Results naturally should’ve been polar opposites, given the abundance of far greater resources and leading at a much simpler time, but Chavez’s execution of such programs failed immensely. Most of the money received from the resources (oil, land, etc. ) were used for guns and the military of Venezuela. Even though government and leadership tactics may be similar, the rise to dictatorship and execution of power was far from the same.

Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro, placing removing their personality and reputation, are known as one of the most revolutionary and well-remembered dictators of the last century. They were both similar with the way coordinated the futures plans and morals they shared for their country while at the same time, executing their given power very differently, leaving each their country in at a different state. Chavez and Castro both led their country passionately and whole-heartedly while being in two completely different places of the world.