Barack, Hugo, and Evo's Tea Party

U.S. President Obama, Venezuelan President Chávez, and Bolivian President Morales will be together for the first time this weekend in Trinidad for the Summit of the Americas. I hope they will become friends for a number of reasons.

At this moment I am pondering one in particular: the personal well-being of Obama as president. I think that in the years ahead he will need the friendship of these two Latin American leaders as much or more than they will need his. I think President Obama is going to have to confront the same kind of opposition that these two men have had to contend with. It won’t be easy and it would be good for Obama to have a support group with whom he could share feelings and frustrations.

Chávez and Morales won their elections with a higher percentage of votes than Obama. In Bolivia it was the first time ever that a presidential candidate received more than 50 percent of the votes. The Congress always picked the president after the popular voting because no candidate ever got a majority. There was one occasion in recent history where the president the congress chose was the person who came in third in the elections.

But in spite of their continual victories, their opponents have maintained that the opposition represents the majority. They have not been ready to accept them as presidents and have done all in their power to overthrow them. I expect the same to happen to President Obama and I attribute it to one main factor: he is not white.

In Bolivia, the degradation of the indigenous population was quite clear. In Venezuela, people said racism didn’t exist. In the U.S., Obama’s election was seen as a milestone in the progress of race relations. But whatever the situation might have been before these men’s elections, racism doesn’t disappear just because of an election.

I am told that in Cheyenne, Wyoming, a citizen posted a sign before the election saying, “We don’t need a half-breed president.” Do you think this person will ever accept Obama as president? I don’t.

On April 15, right-wing leaders in the U.S. were able to rally thousands for “tea parties.” I don’t believe they were protesting the current government’s fiscal policies. If they were, they should have been having tea parties for a long time during the Bush administration. The first Boston Tea Party took place on a December 16. Bush was still president December 16, 2008—why no commemoration then? No, I believe this party was just one of the beginning signs of rebellion.

It did not surprise me to read the Associated Press story with the following: “Jim Adams of Selma carried a sign that showed the president with Hitler-style hair and mustache and said, ‘Sieg Heil Herr Obama.’” A few weeks ago I received an article from a friend that compared President Obama to Hitler and Mussolini because of personality traits. Interestingly, Chávez was also included in the group.

One might see the tea parties as a fun way to protest taxation. But the original Boston Tea Party was more than just that and in less than three years those supporting it were declaring their independence from the king. Obama has not been president for even one hundred days but I fear there was more behind this protest than just taxation.

Maybe I am too pessimistic, but I remember the exuberance and incredulity when Chávez and Morales were elected. Joyous celebrations broke out after these miraculous happenings. I also know well the history of the years that followed their elections and the hate that has been present. It was unseen at the moment but it continues to this day. I use the word “hate” deliberately. As the saying goes: you could cut it with a knife it is so thick.

Those in charge of foreign policy in the Bush administration encouraged the elements opposing Chávez and Morales. They are no longer in charge of U.S. policy, but can anyone assure us that they are not as willing to use the same methods against Obama?

Time will tell, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Barack, Hugo and Evo might become better friends than anyone would ever have expected. Politically, it could benefit their countries. Psychologically, it would probably be helpful to the survival of all three.

(Charles Hardy is author of ­Cowboy in Caracas:  A North American’s Memoir of Venezuela’s Democratic Revolution, published by Curbstone Press.  Other essays by Hardy can be found on his personal blog www.cowboyincaracas.com .  You may write him at cowboyincaracas@yahoo.com.)