The "Radical" Thesis on Globalization and the Case of Venezuela's Hugo Chávez

Abstract

The best way to evaluate the accuracy of theories about globalization is to examine concrete developments and trends in the past two decades. This approach is especially revealing in the case of the thesis on globalization, which posits that transnational capital and structures are inexorably undermining the state and national sovereignty. The argue that since globalization promotes uniformity and capital is no longer nationally based, Third World nations will receive equal if not favorable treatment from international investors and equality between nations will eventually prevail. But the facts speak for themselves: globalization has had the opposite effect of widening the gap between rich and poor nations. A second assertion of the radical thesis has, however, withstood the test of time fairly well. The radicals point out that, given the narrow range of options now available to the state, any government that defies multinational structures and spurns neoliberal policies will eventually back down or else be removed from power. Examples of this dynamic in Latin America abound. In Venezuela, for instance, the veteran politicians Carlos Andres Perez and Rafael Caldera, who had staunchly supported state interventionism and attacked neoliberal policies, ended up yielding to pressure and embracing neoliberalism in their second terms in office. Indeed, P6rez claimed that his decision to accept an International Monetary Fund-imposed program was inspired by the example of Peru's Alan Garcia, whose confrontation with multilateral lending agencies had had devastating political and economic consequences. Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is the first elected Latin American head of state since Alan Garcia to defy the hegemonic powers of the new world order. He has been the only president throughout the continent to pursue a truly independent foreign policy and preach far-reaching changes at home. In this sense he may be considered a path-breaker who is defining the