Chávez, Venezuela and the New Latin America: An interview with Hugo Chávez

by Aleida Guevara March, Hugo Chávez Frías, David Deutschmann (Editor)

  An intimate encounter between the charismatic Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and Che Guevara’s daughter Aleida   Is Venezuela the new Cuba? Elected by an overwhelming popular mandate in 1998, which has been reaffirmed in elections several times since, Hugo Chávez is one of Latin America’s most outspoken political leaders today.   In this extraordinary encounter, Chávez is interviewed by Aleida Guevara, the daughter of the legendary revolutionary Che Guevara. He expresses a fiercely nationalist vision for Venezuela and a commitment to a united Latin America. He also discusses the significance of the military coup against his government in April 2002, Venezuela’s new democratic constitution, the extensive social programs undertaken as part of the Bolivarian revolution and assesses his country’s relations with the United States and Cuba.   In what became a remarkably intimate dialogue over several days, Chávez is probed about his personal political formation and his views about the legacy of Che Guevara’s ideas and example in Latin America today.   Included as an appendix is an exclusive interview with Venezuela’s former minister of defense Jorge García Carneiro, who played a key role in defeating the 2002 coup against Chávez. “There is a different Venezuela where the wretched of the earth know that they can free themselves from their past. And this is a different Latin America.” — Hugo Chávez       Aleida Guevara is the eldest daughter of Ernesto Che Guevara and Aleida March. She works as a pediatrician in Havana, Cuba, and is a prominent figure in the anti-globalization movement.   THIS INTERVIEW IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON DVD.

Genres: Politics, History, Nonfiction, Biography, The Americas

143 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2004

About the author

Eldest daughter of four children born to Ernesto "Che" Guevara and his second wife, Aleida March.

She is a doctor of medicine, based at the William Soler Children's Hospital in Havana. She has also worked as a physician in Angola, Ecuador, and Nicaragua. She is interviewed about the philosophy behind universal health care in Michael Moore's film Sicko.

Guevara has been an advocate for human rights and debt relief for developing nations.

Reviews

[Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really gave me a sense of how much preparation and study Chavez put into politics. You can see all sorts of different threads of thought coming together. But he can make it come across in a folksy way which is refreshing. I was also surprised by how many times in his life Chavez could have easily been killed or blocked from power.

[Will E Hazell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical Fidelista pipeline: Feel-good revolutionary to ‘Obama is using an earthquake machine on Haiti’ just 7 years after this interview was published.

[WIlliam Gerrard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is based on a series of interviews given by Venezuelan leader, Hugo Chavez, to the daughter of Che Guevara, Aleida. Although the book doesn't cover the entire period of Chavez' rule up until his demise, it presents a wonderful tale and grasps fundamental insight into the way the mind works of one of the most popular Latin American leaders of the modern era. Chavez, a man of military background, discusses his rise to power in Venezuela, his roots and also the wider world of South America. His relationship with Fidel Castro is striking and his leftist tendencies are very apparent. His goals for the Venezuelan people and socialist objectives cover the first part of the story and he moves onto topics as diverse as the Gulf War and his family in the second, more broken series of short interview chapters. The book concludes with appendices of a TV interview with Hugo and Aleida and also with some of the insider details of the attempted military coup d'etat that took place against Chavez. I found the book to be very insightful and interesting on a subject that I previously understood very little.

[Luci ☭ · Rating 5 out of 5]

“We are peaceful, but we are armed. With military weaponry, that is, but we also have weapons for many different battles. Our ideology, our conviction, our awareness, and our constitution are all weapons.”

Short read of an interview series by Aleida Guevara with Hugo Chavez. It is biographical, informational, and a great introduction into the Bolivarian process. Includes anecdotes of the steadfastness of the Venezuelan people. Guevara’s interview offers touching moments that humanize the brotherhood between Chavez and Castro, a privilege rarely afforded to revolutionary leaders. At a moment that the U.S. escalates attacks against Venezuela and its people this book is essential reading.

[Soph Nova · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good toe-dip into Venezuelan politics from the standpoint of The Comandante himself, Hugo Chávez, talking to the eldest daughter of Che Guevara about his program, a bit of his history, and his participation in the vision of twenty-first century socialism. Also includes a harrowing account of the coup against Chávez in 2002 from the perspective of one of the generals who worked quickly to stop the Carmona government from solidifying their power grab.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Then he said to me, ‘Do you know what we are? The fact is that we are not presidents, Chávez, we are two regular guys, who like to hang out.’ He is right. Fidel hit the nail on the head. I am not a president or anything else. I am a guy who likes to hang out.”

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

an interview with chavez.

[Sarah Felix · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had many questions about Chavez and the people he left behind after death. Read this book and you will see a side of him that is not discussed in public opinion.