Mr. Mitra responds

Madam:

I really do not know where to start. I guess I should begin by saying, kids, never under-estimate the power of propaganda. Effective Venezuelan propaganda is stronger than Colombian cocaine, as we can see from Ms. McFadden’s atrociously mislead opinions.

The first point I would like to address is about Venezuela’s “honest” national elections. While the author makes a snide remark about the 2000 and 2004 elections (2004? I thought Bush won that one fair and square), she fails to realize points I had already made in my initial article. Quite frankly, Venezuelan elections are a joke; after all, if they’re so fair, why did Chavez basically prevent European Union officials from monitoring them? Further, why was Jimmy Carter’s society the only organization (other than the Chavez administration of course) claiming that these elections were legitimate?

I do not know of this US-led coup that Ms. McFadden talks about; on the contrary, the coup I mentioned in my article dealt with enraged Venezuelan oil executives that protested Chavez’s atrocious economic policies and Statist nationalization of the oil industry. Ironically, it was because of my very thesis (Chavez = tyrant) that the coup occurred. I guess they have a different explanation down in Venezuela; don’t you love revisionist history?

The “benefits” that Ms. McFadden talks about are rather similar to the “benefits” Stalin and Krushchev offered to the Russians; equalization of income, food for the hungry working class, etc. Of course, Ms. McFadden doesn’t mention that these benefits come at the cost of something else that might be important: freedom.

I don’t understand how Ms. McFadden can say Venezuela is a “hotbed of true democracy” when Chavez initially tried to seize power with a coup to begin with. Further, given his intentions through his radical referendum (a topic that Ms. McFadden wisely chose not to address), it is evident that Chavez is completely unconcerned with democracy, and is rather focused on becoming an aboslute statist ruler.

Regardless, I am competing with a tyrant; although Mr. Chavez has won this round of “brainwash the blind,” I hope that the individuals that read Ms. McFadden’s letter truly see why I’m proud to be an American. Alexander Hamilton and James Madison would probably vomit at the sight of Ms. McFadden’s grotesque ramblings; more importantly however, they would reaffirm the dangers that await free men when tyrants like Hugo Chavez are allowed to assume power.

Sincerely,

Anish K. Mitra ‘10
Managing Editor for Production, The Spectator
President-elect, Brown University Model United Nations