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Posted Friday, November 21, 2008 5:17 PM

Songs in the Key of Chavez

Katie Paul
The Democrats have Bruce Springsteen, Republicans have Hank Williams, Jr., and Hugo Chávez has, well, Hugo Chávez.

As part of a political media blitz enveloping Venezuela this month, the bombastic president's United Socialist Party of Venezuela released an album of celebratory tunes in the run-up to this Sunday's state and local elections, widely seen as a national referendum on Chávez's socialist political project. "Music for the Battle" features eighteen songs lauding the Bolivarian Revolution and calling for electoral victory. What's more, to our great joy here at Why It Matters, the Web-savvy Chavistas have uploaded the whole thing onto their Website and made it available to the public free of charge.

El Comandante himself makes an appearance on two tracks. The highly recommend "Militants with Chávez" consists of excerpts of his speeches layered over a reggae-rap track. He also belts out a rousing ode to the cavalry in "El Corrido de la Caballería." It's not the president's first foray into the entertainment business; last year, he released his first album of schmaltzy folk hymns, "Songs for All Time," based on the musical selections that close his regular radio and TV broadcasts. Ever the ham, Chávez is also prone to breaking into song in the middle of his rallies, giving rise to a well-documented musical genre of his own on YouTube.

Will song and dance be enough? As voters head to the polls, it doesn't look like it. Even though El Comandante still enjoys approval ratings of some 60 percent, Chavistas are bracing for losses in key races for the first time since they swept to power along with their charismatic president. "People have learned to distinguish between Chávez and Chávez's candidates," one opposition figure told El País. Whichever way the electoral winds blow, though, Venezuela's leading man will surely continue to sing his swan song for years to come.
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Member Comments

Posted By: vicenteduq (November 26, 2008 at 8:33 AM)

Thanks for your article. Good Information !

Having OIL is not a blessing but a damnation. Venezuela is sunk in a SANTA CLAUS economy.... Millions of People do not pay the utility bills, electriciy, gas, water, phones, etc .... Millions of people do not pay any taxes. Those bills that they do not pay are ridiculously low. One tenfth of what you have to pay in any other Latin country.

Thousands of incompetent ignorants get loans for the most absurd projects and they never repay the Venezuelan Government. I know the stories in detail.

Nationalization of major industries, huge arms purchases from Russia, Russian Warships in Harbors, money for leftists in Latin America. Poverty everywhere in Venezuela, soaring crime rates, empty store shelves and accelerating inflation while oil plummets.

http://milenials.blogspot.com/

http://raciality.blogspot.com/

Vicente Duque

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