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Articles

Vol. 37 No. 1 (2017)

Hugo Chavez’s polarizing legacy: chavismo, media, and public opinion in argentina’s domestic politics

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-090X2017000100007
Submitted
December 15, 2019
Published
2017-04-30

Abstract

Since Hugo Chávez Frias assumed the Venezuelan presidency in 1999, Venezue­la has strengthened ties with most of its Latin American neighbors, particularly those where sympathetic leftist administrations also managed to assume power, including Argentina. With our analysis we show: 1) that Argentine media, divided between pro- and anti-government positions, presents a polarized view of chavismo; and 2) that Argentine public opinion regarding Chávez is not necessarily divided on the basis of ideological affiliations (left-right), but rather by the rejection or sup­port of the former Argentine government. With these findings, we argue that in such a polarized information environment, chavismo is a polarizing issue and a tool that can be exploited in the domestic realm.