Chavez as Militant and the Red Beret

Political Cartoons

In various political cartoons, Chavez is illustrated as militant, which in context is a negative depiction. This depiction is fulfilled through the clothing Chavez is wearing, such as having cigars in his mouth, and most prominently, the use of the red beret. The red beret can be interpreted as an ordinary beret, but oftentimes the essence of what the red beret means is signified through its red color. Whether it be a red shirt, a red book or Chavez sketched as a red yo-yo, the idea that red equates to militant runs through every type of imagery. The political cartoonists’ decision that results in the depiction of a militant Chavez can be analyzed using Foucault’s theory of power and Audre Lorde’s discussion of exoticism.

Foucault discusses how power is not a repressive action because it is not binary between two parties since it always exercises a cost. Chavez drawn as militant can lead some to assume that he is powerful, but this interpretation erases the negative cost that comes with this power. Chavez’s relationships with other countries’ leaders and with the Venezuelan people are the greatest costs associated with his enhanced power.

The way that the red beret becomes a symbol throughout the political cartoons lends itself to Lorde’s discussion of oppressive expressions and feelings. Feelings are, according to Lorde, “first made into language, then into idea, then into more tangible action.” If these political cartoons make people fear Chavez because he looks more militant, then these cartoons are inherently oppressive and sustain the hegemonic structure.