iHugo!

Bart Jones, "!Hugo!: The Hugo Chavez Story From Mud Hut to Perpetual Revolution" (Steerforth Press, 2007).

In this biography of the controversial Bolivarian president, Bart Jones gives us a sympathetic yet critical assessment of the man and the movement. Jones describes Chavez' ascent from the frontier margins of Venezuela, through his rise in the army - virtually the only route of social mobility for poor country boys like Chavez - and his political career as charismatic spokesman for the poor majority of the nation.

Jones also takes to task US policy toward Venezuela, its reflexive hostility toward Chavez and automatic suppport for his wealthy opponents. As a source of US petroleum, Venezuela's "political correctness" has been vital to Washington, and its alliance with the private property (and white) upper classes a cornerstone of "democratic partnership." In upsetting this class rule Comandante Hugo has likewise tipped the canoe of US relations. The media campaign in the US has followed this policy mandate.

Jones offers few original insights, and the material here - though full of detail - is also covered in other biographies of Chavez. Jones' contribution is at its best in highlighting the frustraton of the old ruling classes and Washington's desperate efforts to pump them up in a "color-coded revolution" that failed, and then slyly facilitating a failed coup.

Jones' book does not embrace newer developments in the Bolivarian story: definitive announcements of socialism, and Chavez' attempt to extend his presidential term beyond constitutional limits. The US press has been quick to play up this defeat, as well as his put-down by the King of Spain at the Ibero-American summit. The US media is already hoping these presage his downfall, but like the failed coup Jones outlines in great detail, never count Chavez down for the count.