Disinformation still clouds the US debate on Chávez's legacy in Venezuela

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3. Venezuelans Continue to Defy the Washington Post

Venezuelans Continue to Defy the Washington Post

By Peter Hart | FAIR | January 8, 2013

The Washington Post has never been fond of left-wing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. As serious questions mount about the state of Chavez’s health, the paper’s editorial page (1/5/13) found it a good time to take another swipe:

Venezuelans are bracing themselves for the death of the caudillo who has ruled them–and wrecked their once-prosperous country–over the past 13 years.

Economist Mark Weisbrot has a different take. In a “Room for Debate” discussion at the New York Times (1/4/13), he writes:

Since Hugo Chávez first took office, he and his party have won 13 of 14 national elections, mainly because they greatly improved the living standards of the majority of voters in Venezuela. Since 2004, after the economy recovered from the devastating opposition oil strike, poverty has been cut by half and extreme poverty by more than 70 percent.

Weisbrot goes on to show some of the other ways Venezuelans’ lives have improved in the Chavez years...

http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/01/08/venezuelans-continue-to-defy-washington-post/