In Defense of Chávez

Center for Economic and Policy Research, 22 June 2010
Interview with Hugo Chávez Focused Entirely on the Negative
Written by Mark Weisbrot

Stephen Sackur provides a misleading and one-sided picture of Venezuela after a brief visit there, during which he interviewed President Hugo Chávez ("A chat with Chávez — Oliver Stone's new lead tells all," 14 June). I am the co-writer of Oliver Stone's forthcoming documentary on Chávez, South Of The Border, and was present throughout the interview.

Sackur says that Chávez "categorically denied claims frequently aired in the U.S. that Venezuela is supplying Iran with uranium." But Venezuela does not even produce uranium, as Chávez told him during the interview.

Sackur paints a distorted picture of economic failure under the Chávez government. "In the capital's sprawling hillside barrios, jobs are scarce," he says. But jobs are much less scarce today than when Chávez took office, with unemployment at 8% in 2009 compared with 15% in 1999 – which Chávez also mentioned to him.

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