The Battle of Venezuela
The Battle of Venezuela

Author: Michael McCaughan

Publisher: Seven Stories Press

Published: 2011-01-04

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 1609801164

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In August 2004, the Venezuelan public came out in record numbers to deliver an overwhelming vote of confidence. After many attempts to unseat him, Hugo Chåvez, the former military man who took the country first by coup and then by ballot, again emerged as the people’s choice. It was, in his words, "a victory for the people of Venezuela." Yet despite Chåvez’s successes, having defended his post in six referenda, two elections and against one failed coup, Venezuela—one of the world’s largest oil exporting countries—is a nation deeply divided. The power struggle between the country’s first indigenous head of state and his detractors expresses a larger conflict gripping the region. In The Battle of Venezuela, Guardian reporter Michael McCaughan captures the drama of challenges to Chåvez’s presidency in the courts and on the streets of Caracas. In this detailed analysis of the political forces at work, McCaughan documents the role of the country’s powerful and shrinking middle class, the effects of Chåvez’s social programs for his mainly poor constituents, and the rise of the social movement whose members proclaim themselves "Chåvistas."

A Hero's Curse
A Hero's Curse

Author: Kajsa Norman

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 1849047952

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"For nearly two hundred years Venezuela's political leaders have evoked the legacy of their liberator, Simón Bolívar, to stir popular support for their positions. While Bolívar's heroic struggle helped free a continent, his eventual affinity for dictatorial rule spawned a vicious cycle of liberation and tyranny that has haunted Venezuela ever since. A Hero's Curse is the story of modern Venezuelans whose lives have taken shape in the shadow of Bolívar and his most passionate disciple, Comandante Hugo Chávez. It chronicles the rise and fall of Chávez, but also tells the story of a new generation of leaders, and the tragic impact of Venezuela's "heroic" politics on ordinary citizens. Since the death of Chávez, the battle for Venezuela's future has intensified. Amidst a collapsing economy, escalating violence, and shortages of basic goods, there are increasing calls for a change of leadership. Rivals for power compete in their efforts to demonstrate to the masses that they are the new, true, Venezuelan hero come to set them free. Thus the stage is set for yet another turn in Venezuela's cycle of perpetual liberation."

The Plot to Overthrow Venezuela
The Plot to Overthrow Venezuela

Author: Dan Kovalik

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2019-06-25

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 1510750738

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An in-depth look at the US threat to "save" Venezuela Since 1999 when Hugo Chavez became the elected president of Venezuela, the US has been conniving to overthrow his government and to roll back the Bolivarian Revolution which he ushered in to Venezuela. With the untimely death of Hugo Chavez in 2013, and the election of Nicolas Maduro that followed, the US redoubled its efforts to overturn this revolution. The US is now threatening to intervene militarily to bring about the regime change it has wanted for twenty years. While we have been told that the US’s efforts to overthrow Chavez and Maduro are motivated by altruistic goals of advancing the interests of democracy and human rights in Venezuela, is this true? The Plot to Overthrow Venezuela answers this question with a resounding “no,” demonstrating that: The US’s interests in Venezuela have always centered upon one and only one thing: Venezuela’s vast oil reserves; The US has happily supported one repressive regime after another in Venezuela to protect its oil interests; Chavez and Maduro are not the “tyrants” we have been led to believe they are, but in fact have done much to advance the interests of democracy and economic equality in Venezuela; What the US and the Venezuelan opposition resent most is the fact that Chavez and Maduro have governed in the interest of Venezuela’s vast numbers of poor and oppressed racial groups; While the US claims that it is has the humanitarian interests of the Venezuelan people at heart, the fact is that the US has been waging a one-sided economic war against Venezuela which has greatly undermined the health and living conditions of Venezuelans; The opposition forces the US is attempting to put into power represent Venezuela’s oligarchy who want to place Venezuela’s oil revenues back in the hands of Venezuela’s economic elite as well as US oil companies. The battle for Venezuela which is now being waged will determine the fate of all of Latin America for many years to come. The Plot to Overthrow Venezuela lets readers know what is at stake in this struggle and urges readers to reconsider which side they are on.

Bolivar
Bolivar

Author: Marie Arana

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2014-04-08

Total Pages: 624

ISBN-13: 1439110204

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An authoritative portrait of the Latin-American warrior-statesman examines his life against a backdrop of the tensions of nineteenth-century South America, covering his achievements as a strategist, abolitionist, and diplomat.

Barrio Rising
Barrio Rising

Author: Prof. Alejandro Velasco

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2015-07-24

Total Pages: 343

ISBN-13: 0520959183

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Beginning in the late 1950s political leaders in Venezuela built what they celebrated as Latin America’s most stable democracy. But outside the staid halls of power, in the gritty barrios of a rapidly urbanizing country, another politics was rising—unruly, contentious, and clamoring for inclusion. Based on years of archival and ethnographic research in Venezuela’s largest public housing community, Barrio Rising delivers the first in-depth history of urban popular politics before the Bolivarian Revolution, providing crucial context for understanding the democracy that emerged during the presidency of Hugo Chávez. In the mid-1950s, a military government bent on modernizing Venezuela razed dozens of slums in the heart of the capital Caracas, replacing them with massive buildings to house the city’s working poor. The project remained unfinished when the dictatorship fell on January 23, 1958, and in a matter of days city residents illegally occupied thousands of apartments, squatted on green spaces, and renamed the neighborhood to honor the emerging democracy: the 23 de Enero (January 23). During the next thirty years, through eviction efforts, guerrilla conflict, state violence, internal strife, and official neglect, inhabitants of el veintitrés learned to use their strategic location and symbolic tie to the promise of democracy in order to demand a better life. Granting legitimacy to the state through the vote but protesting its failings with violent street actions when necessary, they laid the foundation for an expansive understanding of democracy—both radical and electoral—whose features still resonate today. Blending rich narrative accounts with incisive analyses of urban space, politics, and everyday life, Barrio Rising offers a sweeping reinterpretation of modern Venezuelan history as seen not by its leaders but by residents of one of the country’s most distinctive popular neighborhoods.

Last Stand on Bataan
Last Stand on Bataan

Author: Christopher L. Kolakowski

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2016-03-11

Total Pages: 219

ISBN-13: 0786474890

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In the opening days of World War II, a joint U.S.-Filipino army fought desperately to defend Manila Bay and the Philippines against a Japanese invasion. Much of the five-month campaign was waged on the Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor Island. Despite dwindling supplies and dim prospects for support, the garrison held out as long as possible and significantly delayed the Japanese timetable for conquest in the Pacific. In the end, the Japanese forced the largest capitulation in U.S. military history. The defenders were hailed as heroes and the legacy of their determined resistance marks the Philippines today. Drawing on accounts from American and Filipino participants and archival sources, this book chronicles these critical months of the Pacific War, from the first air strikes to the fall of Bataan and Corregidor.

The Battle for Vella Lavella
The Battle for Vella Lavella

Author: Reg Newell

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2015-12-14

Total Pages: 277

ISBN-13: 0786473274

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During World War II, the Solomon Islands became the scene of a titanic struggle between Allied and Japanese forces. After their victory on Guadalcanal, Americans advanced into the New Georgia Group with horrendous casualties. Admiral Halsey then implemented an "island hopping" strategy, bypassing Japanese strongpoints. The first was an obscure island called "Vella Lavella." This book is the first detailed examination of the struggle for Vella Lavella, covering the ground, air and sea battles and the involvement of American and New Zealand soldiers, the coastwatchers, South Pacific Scouts and the Islanders.

The History of Venezuela
The History of Venezuela

Author: David Robbins

Publisher:

Published: 2019-11-21

Total Pages: 96

ISBN-13: 9781710105377

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Discover the fascinating story of Venezuela. Venezuela is a vibrant and incredible country, with rich natural resources and an environment backing the Amazon rainforest. This book takes a look at the country's history, from the Carib and the arrival of the Spanish to their cold war and political struggles. Inside you'll find an insight into the regimes of both democracy and dictatorship, including José Antonio Páez, Hugo Chavez, and Nicolás Maduro. You'll also learn about the current issues the country faces, with skyrocketing inflation, economic crisis, and little end in sight. Buy now to uncover the events which shaped Venezuela's history today!

The Verdict of Battle
The Verdict of Battle

Author: James Q. Whitman

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2012-10-31

Total Pages: 329

ISBN-13: 0674071875

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Today, war is considered a last resort for resolving disagreements. But a day of staged slaughter on the battlefield was once seen as a legitimate means of settling political disputes. James Whitman argues that pitched battle was essentially a trial with a lawful verdict. And when this contained form of battle ceased to exist, the law of victory gave way to the rule of unbridled force. The Verdict of Battle explains why the ritualized violence of the past was more effective than modern warfare in bringing carnage to an end, and why humanitarian laws that cling to a notion of war as evil have led to longer, more barbaric conflicts. Belief that sovereigns could, by rights, wage war for profit made the eighteenth century battle’s golden age. A pitched battle was understood as a kind of legal proceeding in which both sides agreed to be bound by the result. To the victor went the spoils, including the fate of kingdoms. But with the nineteenth-century decline of monarchical legitimacy and the rise of republican sentiment, the public no longer accepted the verdict of pitched battles. Ideology rather than politics became war’s just cause. And because modern humanitarian law provided no means for declaring a victor or dispensing spoils at the end of battle, the violence of war dragged on. The most dangerous wars, Whitman asserts in this iconoclastic tour de force, are the lawless wars we wage today to remake the world in the name of higher moral imperatives.

The Ideology of Creole Revolution
The Ideology of Creole Revolution

Author: Joshua Simon

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2017-06-07

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 1107158478

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This book explores the surprising similarities in the political ideas of the American and Latin American independence movements.