Hugo Chavez

* Re “Venezuela’s Would-Be Castro,” editorial, Dec. 12: How naive of me to believe that the Cold War was over. Hugo Chavez happens to be the democratically elected president of a country whose corrupt two-party system had exhausted the public’s patience. The elite in Venezuela have managed to steal and squander the country’s wealth to the point of plunging 60% of the population into poverty.

The Venezuelan people have voted for Chavez not once but twice and have also voted overwhelmingly for the changes to the constitution that he campaigned on. Nevertheless, your paper refers to this process as “political juggling acts” and “intrigues.” You refer to him as a “caudillo” and a “strongman.” You are wrong.

This is the type of editorial that creates a negative public opinion of Chavez and gives the real intruder on Latin American internal affairs, the U.S., the green light to interfere in Venezuela’s internal process. This is what reminds me of the atmosphere created before the violent overthrow of another democratically elected president of a South American country, Salvador Allende. We should focus on learning how to democratically elect our own president before we ram our arrogance down other peoples’ throats.

EDDIE ACOSTA

Venice

* * Your editorial could not be more on target. Chavez is another Fidel Castro already, but many people would accuse anyone who says that of scare tactics. Those of us who have lived under communism know better; we can smell it a mile away.

What really surprises me is that The Times is attacking Chavez because he could become another Castro when you have praised the original so many times before. Is it because Venezuela is an oil-producing country and Cuba is not?

MARIO ABELLEIRA

North Hollywood