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Cowboy in Caracas: A North American's Memoir of Venezuela's Democratic Revolution

by Charles Hardy

Cowboy in Caracas: A North American's Memoir of Venezuela's Democratic Revolution Cover

ISBN13: 9781931896375
ISBN10: 1931896372
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

No president today is more controversial than Venezuela's Hugo Chvez Fras. Elected in a landslide in 1998, he promised a peaceful revolution. That peaceful dream became a nightmare when Chvez was overthrown in a coup d'tat in 2002. Surprisingly, he was brought back to power by his supporters, mostly barrio dwellers, within forty-eight hours. Although Chvez continues to be dogged by controversy, he stays in power because of these supporters who see themselves as active participants in a democratic revolution.

As a former Catholic priest who has lived in Venezuela for the past twenty years and spent eight of those years in a cardboard-and-tin shack in one of Caracas'barrios, Charles Hardy is in a unique position to explain what is taking place. Cowboy in Caracas: A North American's Memoir of Venezuela's Democratic Revolutiongives the reader insight into the Venezuelan reality, using an anecdotal presentation drawn from the writer's personal experiences.

Charles Hardyhas been writing and speaking about the political and social reality of Latin America for over forty years. He has visited almost every Central and South American country.

James Russellis the author of five books, including After the Fifth Sun: Class and Race in North America(Prentice Hall). Currently, he teaches sociology and directs the Latin American Studies Program at Eastern Connecticut State University.

Book News Annotation:

The author, a Roman Catholic priest from Wyoming, moved to one of the poorest barrios of Caracas, Venezuela in 1985. It was from there that he witnessed the momentous social and political events that Venezuelan President Chavez has dubbed the "Bolivarian Revolution," from the "Caracazo" anti-IMF rebellion of 1989 through the failed coup against Chavez in 2002. While the Venezuelan elites and their American allies have their voices broadcast through the corporate media, it is the voices of the Venezuelan poor that emerge from these anecdotal pages, providing insight into the popularity of the Bolivarian Revolution and President Chavez. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

About the Author

Currently residing in Venezuela, Charles Hardy has been writing and speaking about the political and social reality of Latin America for over forty years. He has visited almost every Central and South American country and, as a Catholic priest, lived eight years in a cardboard shack in a Venezuelan barrio.

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Neill Rosenfeld, March 20, 2007 (view all comments by Neill Rosenfeld)
When he was a Roman Catholic priest, Charles Hardy was sent to Caracas, Venezuela, to work with the poorest of the poor in 1985. While living among them for eight years in a cardboard shack without sanitary facilities, as well as in the years that have followed, he has witnessed the drama of social and political change under Hugo Chavez that has substantially improved their situation.

In his lucid and conversationally written book, "Cowboy in Caracas," Hardy recounts his often moving experiences while providing a perspective on Chavez's Bolivarian revolution that is far different from that which we in the United States get from our media - the perspective of the 80 percent of Venezuelans who are poor, not of the small but vocal minority who, as I see it, want to reclaim their traditional control of the country's wealth. (That minority runs the Venezuelan news media, which continually maligns Chavez and overtly participated in the failed US-backed coup against him in 2002, as well as a subsequent attempt to strangle the economy in order to force him out; in each case the people literally put their bodies on the line to support Chavez, thwarting those efforts.)

While keeping his focus on the Venezuelans he has met, Hardy vividly illustrates the reality of a country that, UNESCO says, in a year and a half wiped out illiteracy; has opened thousands of schools in rural areas; has created new universities which any Venezuelan can attend without tuition; has provided seed money to farmers and rural women who have started cottage industries; and has substantially expanded cost-free health services.

Don't get me wrong: Charles Hardy is no shill for the government, but he does think it has done many things that benefit the vast majority of Venezuelans. If you want an entertaining and humanistic account of what I see as a dynamic country that has little in common with the menace that Bush administration portrays, give "Cowboy in Caracas" a try.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9781931896375
Author:
Hardy, Charles
Publisher:
Curbstone Press
Preface by:
Russell, James W.
Preface:
Russell, James W.
Introduction:
Russell, James W.
Author:
Russell, James W.
Subject:
History
Subject:
United States - 20th Century
Subject:
Venezuela
Subject:
Latin America - South America
Subject:
World History-South America
Edition Description:
Paperback
Series Volume:
A North American's M
Publication Date:
20070431
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
145
Dimensions:
8.4 x 5.5 in

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