Poverty

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The US media often attempted to discredit Chavez’s popularity by pointing at his supporters of the lower socio-economic class. By focusing on the indigent, the media used Chavez’s socialist policies, which through social welfare, to create a schism between the impoverished who receive welfare and the richer business executives who are often in control of the country’s oil. This focus on poverty emphasized that Chavez is only a “good leader” to those with the least political and social clout and a “poor leader” to those with power due to his attacks on the oil industry and hegemonic powers such as the United States. This difference is also seen when Chavez gave discounted heating oil to the impoverished South Bronx, where he is then painted with garnering praise in the United States from the poor despite the “hypocrisy” of attacking the rich. The initiative was taken as a petty attempt to undercut US supremacy without the consideration of other incentives. Moreover, there is a broader conversation of poverty in exoticism, as the poor Venezuelans are pitied for having no choice but to live under a “strong man,” an “autocrat,” or a “corrupt military leader.”

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News outlets describe Chavez supporters as “the poor” or “those in poverty,” which undermines the presence of Chavez. Lower socioeconomic classes require saving, want to punish the rich, and portrayed as exotic or “other.” The Venezuelan who supports Chavez is a Venezuelan in need of saving and specifically, needs saving by the United States. Those who oppose Chavez are not poor since news outlets describe them as “white collar” or even “business leaders” to show that those who oppose him are smart and acute with their money. Chavez supporters are not trusted because of their poor choices, poor education, and poor circumstances. Additionally, this also ties into colorism and “otherness” as described by Audre Lorde. When showing a b-roll of Chavez supporters, they have darker skin, which is accompanied by talk of violence and poverty.