– Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez dies (CNN
– Hugo Chavez, Venezuelan leader and US foil, dies (CBS News)
– Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez dead after battle with cancer (Fox News)
– Hugo Chavez: The 60 Minutes interview (CBS News)
– Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez dies from cancer (Reuters)
– Key Dates in Hugo Chavez’s Political Life (ABC News)
– Hugo Chavez dies at 58 (Washington Post)
– Venezuelans pour into streets to mourn Hugo Chavez (Huffington Post)
Hugo Chavez was the creator and launched the first successful attack on the US dollar. He did it by establishing the world’s first electronic currency, the Sucre, in June of 2010. His tiny trade organization, made up of 12 member nations including Cuba only generated about one half of one percent of world GDP, so it flew under the radar.
The Sucre made it possible for member nations to trade with each other without converting to the US dollar to complete their transactions. The Sucre translated the value of each member’s currency, making conversion to the dollar unnecessary, and obsolete.
In November, 2010, China and Russia quickly followed suit, establishing their own trade agreements leaving the dollar out. India, Japan, Turkey and many other South American nations joined with them. Many emerging nations in Africa followed.
The US dollar went from involvement in 100% of world transactions to about 60% in 18 months. By this time next year, who knows?
Two other dictators called for ending the US dollar as the world standard currency and replacing it with gold. One was in Iraq, the other in Libya……we know what happened to them. Chavez was far more crafty, and he accomplished the same goal very quietly.
Hugo Chavez sent fuel to America’s poorest when our own government did nothing for them during the Bush administration. It would be interesting to know what historians say about him a hundred years from now.