Pirates of the Caribbean: Axis of Hope

by Tariq Ali

Since 1998, the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela has brought Hugo Chavez to world attention as the foremost challenger of the neoliberal consensus and American foreign policy. While Chavez’s radical social-democratic reforms have brought him worldwide acclaim among the poor, he has attracted intense hostility from Venezuelan elites and Western governments.

Drawing on first-hand experience of Venezuela and meetings with Chavez, Tariq Ali shows how Chavez’s views have polarized Latin America and examines the hostility directed against his administration. Ali discusses the enormous influence of Fidel Castro on both Chavez and Evo Morales, the newly-elected President of Bolivia, and contrasts the Cuban and Venezuelan revolutionary processes.

Pirates of the Caribbean guides us through a world divided between privilege and poverty, a continent that is once again on the march.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics

244 pages, Hardcover

First published December 8, 2006

About the author

Tariq Ali (Punjabi, Urdu: طارق علی) is a British-Pakistani historian, novelist, filmmaker, political campaigner, and commentator. He is a member of the editorial committee of the New Left Review and Sin Permiso, and regularly contributes to The Guardian, CounterPunch, and the London Review of Books.

He is the author of several books, including Can Pakistan Survive? The Death of a State (1991) , Pirates Of The Caribbean: Axis Of Hope (2006), Conversations with Edward Said (2005), Bush in Babylon (2003), and Clash of Fundamentalisms: Crusades, Jihads and Modernity (2002), A Banker for All Seasons (2007) and the recently published The Duel (2008).

Reviews

[Yazeed AlMogren · Rating 2 out of 5]

الكتاب يتضمن عدة مقالات للكاتب طارق علي تتطرق عن المواضيع السياسية والاقتصادية لدول امريكا اللاتينية وكيف تصدى القادة اليساريين والاشتراكيين لتدخلات الشركات والحكومة الأمريكية في القارة اللاتينية، للأسف النسخة الصادرة عن شركة المطبوعات للتوزيع والنشر لم تظهر الكتاب بالشكل المطلوب وجعلت عدة مقالات غير مفهومة

[Tariq Mahmood · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is a collection of various articles written about the South American political situation. Its an eye opener as it talks about the influence of the Washington Consortium over the rest of the world. This and other works is essential in raising awareness against the general prejudice of the countries or cultures going against the grain. I found the character of Chavez, Moralis & Castro. Why can't the Muslim world produce a Chavez??

[June · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good overview for those who are not familiar with Chavez, Castro and Morales. If you're looking for more insight, though, I'd recommend a new book "Changing Venezuela By Taking Power" by Greg Wilper, published by Verso. Tariq Ali is one of the best authors of the left, steadfastly refusing to comprimise his ideals---and unsympatheitc to those who do. (That list includes Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Carlos Fuentes...)It's a delight to read an author who doesn't try to make excuses for his opinions, because he KNOWS HE'S RIGHT! This is not dry reading. However, I did find the book too brief. The appendices were interesting, and include documents about Chavez's plans for a revolution while he was in the army, but they are almost one hundred pages long and make up half of the book.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed his novels and Clash of Fundamentalisms was useful. But this one is so poorly written and all over the place that I can’t follow it well. The interviews are good primary sources for the radical politics of South America/Caribbean. His thesis is that only a few true believers are working against the bad effects of the post-Cold War neo-liberalism. He is justifying the complex turnovers of government and defending Chavez and the Cuban tactics now. But it’s too in-the-moment for me to follow. And since I’m reading it 15+ years after it’s written, it’s also clear that his optimism about Chavez wasn’t justified. But it’s good to see another side is the story compared to what we have in the news here in the States.

[James F · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another nonfiction book by Tariq Ali, the last of the books by him which I have. In this one, he turns his attention to the politics of the Caribbean and South America, which he sees (or saw some fifteen years ago) as more hopeful than other parts of the world. Ostensibly, the book is about Cuba (Fidel Castro), Venezuela (Hugo Chávez) and Bolivia (Evo Morales); in fact there is relatively little about Cuba (and I have read better) and not much more about Morales, who had just been elected, although there is a good deal of background on Bolivia. Essentially, this is a book about Hugo Chávez and his "Bolivarian Revolution" in Venezuela.

Especially in a long period of reaction, revolutionaries tend to grasp at any sign of an upturn, and I think Ali may have overestimated the significance of Chávez (and Morales). There was no actual revolution in Venezuela, Chávez won the Presidency in an election; unlike Castro, he didn't end capitalism or destroy the landowning oligarchy as a class; even Ali refers on several occasions to his "moderate reforms." On the other hand, the reforms were genuine and substantial, particularly compared to previous regimes anywhere in South America (with the exception of Allende in Chile). The oligarchy (backed by Washington) tried at least four times unsuccessfully to remove him, and the capitalist world media waged a campaign of disinformation about him second only to their campaign against Castro. It is definitely worthwhile to have a book which answers the neo-liberal propaganda.

The real value of most of Ali's nonfiction writing (as opposed to his novels) is his presentation of the historical context in a wider frame, rather than the details of his own position, and that is true here as well, especially now that Castro and Chávez are dead and Morales deposed and in exile.

[Aidan Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

OK-this book was written in the Bush era, years before Venezuela's economic collapse and the deaths of Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro, but it's still an excellent, eye-opening read. Tariq Ali has a firm grasp on history and current events, and a keen eye for bullshit, all the while roaming widely in time and geography. He cites a great many writers, philosophers and intellectuals-Montaigne is a favorite of his, as are many later (Enlightenment-era) French philosophes. He points out that in the post-Cold War world, to think radically or even differently is heresy. Tariq is not uncritical of the Cuban Revolution, attacking Fidel's support for the invasion of Czechoslovakia, but he recognizes that the good it has done outweighs the harm. Oh, and he also uses Mario Vargas Llosa and Carlos Fuentes as punching bags throughout the book-which I find most welcome, given how grotesquely reactionary I find those writers and how much my Dad gushes hagiographical praise of them (especially Vargas Llosa on both counts). Lastly, he dedicated this book to Eduardo Galeano, my favorite of favorite writers, so I knew even from the dedication page that I would love this book. This book has introduced me to a brilliant and beautiful, lucid and well-informed voice of the left. Thank you Tariq Ali-thank you very much!

[Therese Brink · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tariq Ali describes the rise to power of Evo Morales and Hugo chavez as well as Fidel Castro's Cuba.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got very little out of this book, for the simple reason that there's little of substance here - beyond vague, undocumented, overreaching assertions. On a technical matter, the "Pirates of the Caribbean" are supposedly Fidel Castro (Cuba), Hugo Chavez (Venezuela), and Evo Morales (Bolivia). Since when does Bolivia have a coastline along the Caribbean, or any body of water - thank Chile - for that matter?

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading Tariq Ali because he always gives such great synopses of the history of a region he's writing about. I wanted to know more about Chavez and Morales and this was a nice introduction. The only criticism I have is that I wish he had talked about their policies in greater depth. Instead, he chose to focus more on their opposition to American policy in the region and the neo-liberal policies of the IMF and World Bank.

[Debra J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A readable and well-documented view of how the three "Pirates" (Hugo Chavez, Evo Morales and Fidel Castro) are challenging the "Washington Consensus" that molds the predominant Northern view of the world (think how Chavez, who has been democratically elected by his people several times, is repeatedly referred to by politicians and press as a "dictator", until most people believe it).

[Jacob Libby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short, concise, and polemical history of the centuries old Bolivarian revolution and cultural movement in Latin America. How Hugo Chavez, Evo Morales, and Fidel Castro have carried forward the anti-imperialist movement that began against the 18th century European colonial empires. Tariq Ali, as always sharp as a razor blade and biting as a whip.

[Karlson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very educational regarding the role of the press - supposedly free press. If the press reports a lie often enough, people begin to believe it as the truth. He looks at the role of the press in regards to shaping world opinion about Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia.
It reads like a novel.

[Dhruv Sangari · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very sensitive and factual portrayal of the realities of Latin America. A must read for every Yankee! What makes even more powerful is that this is no armchair journalism, but an intellectual analysis based on the author's personal journeys through these countries. Brilliant.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like so much leftist writing, the bombastic rhetoric obstructs some meaningful messages. The final ten pages previous to the Bolivar section are very good and the Bolivar material caused me to want to read more about that period and him.

[Joseph · Rating 1 out of 5]

A specious argument. Yes, Bush is an awful President with Imperialistic ends, but why the hell should we embrace Chavez, Castro, and Morales.

[Shila · Rating 5 out of 5]

IM GOING TO READ THIS ONE!!! I PROMISE!!

[Tattered Cover Book Store]

Lynn says:

Chuck full of cogent info you won't find anywhere else in the same slim volume--a worthwhile read!

[Reza Mustafa]

saya terlalu suka dengan film pirate caribbean. jadi saya tentu saja ingin membaca novelnya juga. karena biasanya cerita novel lebih memukau dari cerita visual seperti dalam film-film.

[Michal Wigal]

Gives hope that there is an alternative to the Washington Consensus.

[Umer Iftikhar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A definite read .

[Bob Mabbitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not standard beach fare, but really enjoyed reading this excellent political history while in the neighborhood for some R&R (St. Criox).

[Páidí Ó Madáin]

Read after a trip to Cuba in 2015 when Venezuela was never off the TV helps explain a lot of the hope that the 'Pink tide' now receding helped bring about.