"When I was here in 2000-2002 I don't remember anyone using the word imperialism. The subject just didn't come up."It's interesting to consider the way Chavez's rhetorical bogeymen have transmogrified over the years. If I remember correctly, it went something like this:
1994-1998: CorruptionAm I missing a bogeyman here? Do the dates look about right? It would take some fairly stomach-turning research in the Alo, presidente archives to confirm - I'm just not up to it.
1999-2000: Puntofijismo
2001-2002: The Oligarchy
2002-2004: Coup-mongering
2005- : American Imperialism
What's weird is the way the switchover is never explicitly justified or even acknowledged and yet, once it happens, it's absolute, Orwelian. This revolution has always been about opposing imperialism, we have never been at war with Eurasia.