Comandante: Hugo Chávez's Venezuela
In 13 tumultuous years as president of Venezuela, Chávez continues to evoke either love or hatred, hardly ever neutral feelings. Carroll, the Guardian’s Latin American correspondent, spent six months penetrating Miraflores Palace, interviewing political friends and foes, aides, ministers, and bodyguards for an absorbing portrait of the charismatic Chávez. The former revolutionary and coup leader gained the president’s office in 1999, promising democracy and transparency. His impromptu television show, Hello, President, transmitted his actions and his media savvy as he seized control of the nation’s oil industry, appropriated private property, and consolidated government authority, all the while exploiting tensions between the rich and the poor. Chávez has skillfully managed his image as a champion of the downtrodden, feared by the West for his close ties to Cuba’s Castro, at times defying easy definition as either autocrat or democrat. His longevity and Venezuela’s oil wealth have lent Chávez weight in tangled relationships with the U.S., China, and the Middle East. Carroll details Chávez’s determination and alluring personality, offering a portrait that is at times frightening and at others amusing. --Vanessa Bush--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.