Retired Venezuelan Gen. Boris Saavedra spoke during an International Luncheon Speaker Series event hosted by the SIUE Center for International Programs.
Retired Gen. Boris Saavedra of the Venezuelan Air Force talked to an intimate group Wednesday at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville about Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
The discussion included the military might that supports Chavez, as well as the impact the ruler’s death can be expected to have on “Chavismo,” which is the intense love of the ruler by the country’s impoverished.
The lunch event took place in the Morris University Center’s University Club. Saavedra discussed potential successors should the leftist leader pass away. It is unclear who that would be because of Chavez’ unmatched charisma, mastery of manipulation and absence of a groomed replacement. Chavez took power 14 years ago at a time when the country was in a state of revolution.
Venezuela has extensive crude oil reserves and was a founding member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC.) It continues to be a principle exporter of oil to the United States, operating refineries and gas stations in the U.S. under the company name CITCO.
“Chavez is the product of a political system that collapsed,” Saavedra said. “Democracy was not developed in the way that it should have been. The only way you can have a real democracy is if you have a real military. The military is controlling everything behind the scenes, and Chavez controls the military.
Saavedra said the rampant corruption under Chavez’s rule in Venezuela continues to keep inflation high and the impoverished down. He further noted the country’s poorest population has a fanatical loyalty to the president that is beyond an identifiable ideology. This point was further emphasized by Director of International Programs Ron Schaefer, “It is vital that our students understand the complex web of economic, social and political relationships that exist in Venezuela today. Only with these in mind will our students gain the perspective necessary to co-exist in a mutually beneficial fashion with our southern hemisphere neighbors.”
The post-Chavismo future is uncertain. “It’s the absolute opposite of what you see in most countries,” Saavedra said. “Most countries prepare for when a ruler leaves. In Venezuela the people are preparing for him to come back. There is just him. It’s all him. He’s in complete control.”
Saavedra was visiting the area from Washington D.C. to speak to the St. Louis Council on Foreign Relations on Wednesday evening about “Venezuela: Chavismo without Chavez.”
Saavedra earned his master’s degree from The George Washington University and is currently completing a Ph.D. in privatization through the Universidad Nacional a Distancia in Spain. He has a long and storied military career, and currently is a professor at the Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies in Washington D.C. Saavedra studied at the French Ecole Superieure de Guerre, heading the joint Border Commission with Colombia, and served as the dean of studies at the Inter-American Defense College. He has studied extensively the country of Venezuela, as well as hemispheric security issues, and recently completed an article on Venezuela after Chavez.