Rules for Resistance by David Cole

Author:David Cole
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781620973554
Publisher: The New Press
Published: 2017-05-06T04:00:00+00:00

*Editors’ note: On April 26, 2014, Ai Weiwei’s name and works were removed from 15 Years of Chinese Contemporary Art Award (CCAA), a group show in Shanghai. One month later, the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing held the exhibition Hans van Dijk: 5000 Names. Though he had been invited to participate with three works of art, Ai Weiwei’s name was omitted from the press release, leading him to remove his artwork from the center.

Part IV

Latin America

WHAT HUGO CHÁVEZ TELLS US ABOUT DONALD TRUMP

Alberto Barrera Tyszka

(Venezuela)

Originally published in The New York Times (September 20, 2016)

MEXICO CITY—Long before becoming president, when he was a soldier, Hugo Chávez organized cultural activities, most notably beauty pageants. On a stage, microphone in hand, Mr. Chávez served as host, pumping up the audience and announcing the winner. The showman in him already struggled to emerge from under the uniform. Mr. Chávez said he imitated the proceedings he had seen on television in these improvised contests. This is how he learned to play to an audience.

When he tried to seize power through a coup d’état years later, in 1992, the resulting media frenzy sent him another sign. His military failure turned into a political victory: When Mr. Chávez appeared on TV to call for his colleagues to give up, he won over the audience. One minute on the screen was more effective than tanks, machine guns, and bullets.

That was the start of his political career. He didn’t rise to power through social struggles. He became president without ever holding public office or a representative position that would have required him to negotiate or compromise. From his first election as president, in 1998, to his last one, in 2012—shortly before his death at age fifty-eight in March 2013—Mr. Chávez became an expert in using television as a form of government.

Now Donald J. Trump is proposing the same thing to the United States.

Beyond their ideological differences, Mr. Trump, a populist right-winger, and Mr. Chávez, a leftist strongman, share the same telegenic vocation. They both built a career via television spectacle. Every Sunday, Mr. Chávez appeared on a program called Aló Presidente, in which he would sing, talk about current events, or appoint and dismiss ministers—reminiscent of Trump’s television catchphrase “You’re fired!” There was no time limit for Aló Presidente. The longest episode lasted eight hours and seven minutes.

Not only that, but Mr. Chávez could decide to appear at any time through mandatory broadcasts transmitted over all the country’s airwaves. By 2012, he had appeared in 2,377 of them, adding up to 1,642 hours. Every day, Mr. Chávez was featured for an average of 54 minutes as the main character of some kind of television broadcast. His true utopia appeared to be the consolidation of a telegovernment.

Mr. Trump’s campaign wouldn’t be possible without television. Not only because of the coverage, worth hundreds of millions of dollars he has enjoyed, but also because of the reality show The Apprentice, on which he was host, judge, and prize. From there

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