Chilean president praises Chavez, rejects “leftist wave”

[Judi Lynn]

Mercosur
Friday, 03 March

Chilean president praises Chavez, rejects “leftist wave”

Chilean President Ricardo Lagos, whose term expires March 11, had kind words for controversial Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez at an economic forum in Santiago.

Dismissing fears expressed in Washington D.C. of a “leftist wave” sweeping Latin America as a “rather superficial analysis”, he reproached critics for demonizing the Venezuelan leader.

“Hugo is a force of nature unleashed, he is a man of great charisma and I believe that his efforts to defeat poverty have led him to take a path of great participation….I think he has had the good luck of very high oil prices, which has allowed him to do what he does”, Lagos said.
(snip)

“(Some analysts) like to say ‘a leftist wave is engulfing Latin America’ without understanding the depth of what’s happening. I would say that the citizenry are saying something else: ‘work together, construct a society that has room for me too, where there is space for my hopes and dreams.’”
(snip/...)

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