Ultra-Populist Hugo Chavez Represents the People

Re “The Unpopular Populist,” editorial, March 5:

Can’t The Times learn? First Iraq, then Haiti, next Venezuela and after that Cuba, as our government conspires to topple governments in other countries.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) talked to Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in the Central African Republic on his cellphone shortly before his communication was cut off. According to her, he said he and his wife, who is an American citizen, were kidnapped and are now in a country where they are being held incommunicado.

According to your editorial, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez, who represents the poor in Venezuela as did Aristide in Haiti, is an “ultra-populist.” That means he represents people who are in the vast majority. Can’t The Times see the pattern?

Ann Maupin

Los Angeles

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Another day, another country. Now that we’ve ousted Aristide, it appears that the U.S. is targeting Chavez in Venezuela again.

When is this country going to stop interfering in the internal affairs of weaker, smaller countries? I understand that Venezuela is one of the world’s best sources for natural gas, and that apparently the fact that Chavez had nationalized his gas industry in order to house and feed the millions of poor people in his country irked President Bush, but does that give us the right to undermine him in order to facilitate access to Venezuela’s national resources?

Here we go again!

Angela Bradshaw

Los Angeles