Monday, September 17, 2007
Chavez Threatens to Take Over Schools
President Hugo Chavez threatened to take over any Venezuelan private schools that do not submit to the oversight of his socialist government. All public and private schools will now be subject to inspections enforcing a new educational system and curriculum. The new curriculum is intended to help students develop values of "cooperation and solidarity" while learning critical reflection, dialogue and volunteer work. However, what exactly this curriculum will include remains unclear. The Associated Press did obtain a copy of a medical school syllabus that included writings from Karl Marx, speeches by Fidel Castro, and information on Ernesto "Che" Guevara and Columbian rebel chief Manuel Marulanda, alongside the traditional subjects like biology and chemistry. Any schools that do not submit to the new policy will be taken over by Chavez and nationalized. Here is the story.
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3 comments:
This is history in the making. We have the opportunity to watch the rise of a new dictator. He is following a classic pattern, performing a step by step takeover of the country while cloaked in a fake democracy.
I had some sympathy for Chavez before, but he is becoming ever more intolerant and oppressive. I find his attempts to modify the Constitution to permit perpetual re-election to be troubling and indicative of autocratic and dictatorial ambitions. And the fact that he wants to include Marx, Castro, and Che writings in a medical school curriculum seems to confirm this unfortunate evolution of his administration. I mean, really, what do Marx, Castro, and Che have to do with medicine if not to politicize science and compromise academic freedom?
what do Marx, Castro, and Che have to do with medicine ~ Huck
Well, they are responsible for many people needing medical attention!
Seriously, Chavez is doing everything he can to stay in power. He is doing it in such a way as to still be able to claim that it is a democracy. If he isn’t stopped he will be a dictator in fact.
I made it down to Venezuela back in the late 80’s and thought it was a beautiful country. It has great potential, but someone like Chavez will/is take/taking it in the wrong direction.
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