COMMENTARY It's apt that Hugo Ch谩vez's death anniversary and the Florida legislature's opening fall the same week. Both evoke assaults on free speech.
In 2006 I sat down with then Venezuelan President Hugo Ch谩vez in New York a day after he鈥檇 called then U.S. President George W. Bush 鈥渢he devil鈥� at the U.N.
I asked the socialist firebrand if he saw the hypocrisy in being free to come here and insult el presidente yanqui, while back in Venezuela his recently enacted anti-defamation laws made it a crime 鈥� not grounds for a civil suit, but a criminal offense 鈥� to verbally wound him, el comandante venezolano.
Ch谩vez shot me a shocked look and played the card all authoritarian populists, be they left-wingers like him or right-wingers like former President Donald Trump, inevitably slam on the table: victimization.
鈥淧eople need to visit Venezuela if they think Ch谩vez is intimidating free expression,鈥� he whined. 鈥淢y God, 鈥榙evil鈥� is the least of things the bourgeois there are allowed to call me in the media.鈥�
Ch谩vez 鈥� who died of cancer a decade ago this week, 14 years into his rule 鈥� used 鈥渂ourgeois鈥� to insult his foes as sophomorically as Florida鈥檚 Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, uses 鈥渨oke鈥� to demonize his.
Which is why it鈥檚 a more than apt coincidence that Ch谩vez鈥檚 memory is in the news now as Florida鈥檚 legislature 鈥� as much a lapdog for the right-wing DeSantis as Venezuela鈥檚 National Assembly was for Ch谩vez 鈥� convenes to propose laws that, if enacted, would press their own boot heel on free speech. Especially speech that offends Ron DeSantis.
READ MORE: 隆Eso! Hugo Ch谩vez would have felt at home in Florida, where home rule is under attack
One DeSantis-backed bill makes it easy as key lime pie to sue anyone for defamation 鈥� especially journalists and media outlets 鈥� by axing limits that have been First Amendment pillars for almost 60 years. Those are rules that rein in the ability of public officials and figures to take critics to court for slander or libel, and which require plaintiffs to prove they were victims of malice 鈥� that a newspaper, for example, knowingly and malevolently published falsehoods.
Another measure, and the most astonishing, requires bloggers who write about DeSantis and top state elected officials to register with the state 鈥� let me repeat that so it sinks in: register with the state 鈥� and report whomever might be paying them to write their blog posts. DeSantis aides say only that he鈥檚 reviewing this bill. But it was certainly introduced in the spirit of intolerance towards media criticism and scrutiny that fills just about every DeSantis speech.
The same mocking contempt, that is, that loaded just about every speech Ch谩vez ever delivered.
While I don鈥檛 think President-wannabe DeSantis and his GOP juggernaut would or could go to the anti-free speech lengths Ch谩vez did, it鈥檚 still worth losing sleep about the lengths they may go to.
Let me be clear: I鈥檓 certainly not asserting that DeSantis and the Florida GOP are the dictatorial human rights abusers that Ch谩vez鈥檚 鈥淐havista鈥� revolution was and still is. And I鈥檓 more than aware that the Florida bills reflect civil measures and not the criminalization of speech that Ch谩vez and so many other Latin American caudillos have been infamous for.
Still, while I don鈥檛 think President-wannabe DeSantis and his GOP juggernaut would or could go to the lengths Ch谩vez did, it鈥檚 nonetheless worth losing sleep about the lengths they may go to.
Jump the shark
This week鈥檚 anniversary of Ch谩vez鈥檚 demise reminds me that early in his reign it seemed less likely he himself would jump the shark when it came to bullying free expression. But as his oil-fueled power ballooned through the 2000s 鈥� particularly after he won re-election in 2006 by a 26-point landslide 鈥� he started prosecuting journalists and opposition figures for saying or writing anything deemed 鈥渙ffensive and disrespectful鈥� to him and his regime.
It shouldn鈥檛 be lost on anyone that DeSantis trumpets speech-muzzling proposals like Florida鈥檚 anti-defamation bill while also reminding us, over and over, that he won re-election in November by a 19-point landslide.
And it ought to send a chill down the American spine to hear DeSantis and GOP militants push these measures just as presidential re-candidate Trump 鈥� who also brays for laws making it easier to sue media 鈥� is warning that if he and the party recapture the White House next year, there鈥檒l be an orgy of 鈥渞etribution鈥� against anyone who questions him and MAGAworld.
You don鈥檛 need to jail journalists and critics to rain 鈥渞etribution鈥� down on them. The menace of economic ruin or physical violence from extremist supporters is more than enough to do the trick.
More than enough to evoke Hugo Ch谩vez鈥檚 memory.
