1
Capitalism Is Savagery
In this speech to Central and South America, Hugo Chavez explains why he wanted to
implement more socialist policies in Venezuela. He discusses how capitalism unchecked could
lead to the destruction of the world as we know it, through global warming or other means. He
also addresses military coups and past conflict in Venezuela, describing how the country got
through it thanks to the ingenuity and combined effort of all types of citizens. Chavez then talks
about the many social programs the government has been able to implement in recent years,
hoping to benefit the vast populations of poor and uneducated people. He states his belief that
they would be much farther in life if they didn’t have to rely on capitalistic institutions like
universities and the health system to survive. Reasons like this, he explains, lead him to
socialism, and it can combat the capitalism of the United States if South America unites.
Through this speech, Chavez was trying to explain the benefits of his programs to his
people. By referencing people Fidel Castro, leader of Cuba, as if they are close friends by saying
“He was bothering me from three o’clock in the afternoon, asking me what time I would speak,”
Chavez humanizes this prominent Marxist figure, making him seem likeable to the common
person and showing how his agenda for South American unification is attainable. 1 Additionally,
Chavez’s “unabashed admiration for Fidel Castro and the political system in place in Cuba, on
the one hand, and his repeated denunciation of the Washington Consensus, on the other, garnered
him both admiration and hostility from many of his neighbors” is indicative of where he got
some of his ideas from and that he knew implementation would be a bit of an uphill battle.2
Especially with the United States involved in so many Latin American affairs, so openly
1
Chávez, Hugo. "Capitalism is Savagery." Z Magazine 18, no. 4 (April 2005): 53.
2
Meade, Teresa. A History of Modern Latin America, 2d ed, 67. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2015, 327.
2
speaking against them was a bold move on Chavez’s part. However, he’d seen Castro succeed
against United States intervention and clearly hoped that more countries joined together would
be able to push against them and capitalism’s reign.
3
Bibliography
Chávez, Hugo. "Capitalism is Savagery." Z Magazine 18, no. 4 (April 2005): 53.
Meade, Teresa. A History of Modern Latin America, 2d ed, 67. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell,
2015, 327.
