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ERIC Number: EJ1018526
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1478-2103
EISSN: N/A
Farewell to the Man in the Red Beret, Enter the Man in the White Silk Mitre: "There Is a Crack in Everything, That's How the Light Gets In"
McLaren, Peter
Policy Futures in Education, v11 n4 p465-476 2013
This essay examines the legacy of the late President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez Frias. Shortly after the death of President Chavez, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected the 266th and current pope of the Catholic Church and took the name, Francis. The essay contrasts the demonization of Hugo Chavez by the Western corporate media with the adulation of the newly elected Pope. The author recounts his work in Venezuela building socialism as part of the Bolivarian Revolution initiated by the Chavez government. The Bolivarian Revolution has been a powerful challenge to the catastrophe of finance capitalism and has helped Venezuela's poor tremendously. The author then discusses the traditional role of the Catholic Church in Latin America to protect the class of wealth and property. He notes the controversy surrounding the role Pope Francis played during the days of the military dictatorship in Argentina where the Pope was serving as a bishop of the Church. Some reason to be optimistic about the new pope is contained in the view of liberation theologian Leonardo Boff, and the author ends his commentary with this note of optimism. Chavez's legacy, however, is already assured, at least among the poor and the powerless of Las Americas, who will continue to revere him as a popular saint.
Symposium Journals. P.O. Box 204, Didcot, Oxford, OX11 9ZQ, UK. Tel: +44-1235-818-062; Fax: +44-1235-817-275; e-mail: subscriptions@symposium-journals.co.uk; Web site: http://www.wwwords.co.uk/pfie
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Argentina; Venezuela
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A