Margaret Thatcher

I thought I would interrupt briefly Venezuelan election coverage to mention that I admired Margaret Thatcher very much because she was a principled politician, one that was not afraid to take hits for what she believed in. She also knew when to step aside when the time came.

Very few countries are lucky enough to have at least one principled politician of the caliber of Margaret Thatcher once a century. In Venezuela it is possible the lone one we had was Romulo Betancourt (Bolivar being more of a military leader than a successful politician). France had de Gaulle. Reagan almost qualified but I think the US had Truman as the lone star since Lincoln, my opinion of course. Though a case can be made for the UK having had two in a century if you count Churchill. Colombia may have had it with Uribe though not all is said with him yet. Cardoso in Brazil is its best candidate.

All changed the world, or at least the part of the world they lived in. Things were never the same again after their passage, but always for the best. Unfortunately there are also those leaders that changed the world for the worst and Chavez is the latest case in point.

That is why we must admire Margret Thatcher who as a woman had to work twice as hard as a guy but may have achieved twice as much because not only she made the UK relevant again, but her ideas and determination still influence our world today, and probably for quite a while more if we manage to survive the present economical and moral crisis. Also, something that perhaps does not happen as often in today's obituaries: more than after Golda Meir or Indira Ghandi, Thatcher made it clear that a woman could hold the highest office in a democracy as well as any other guy, at least in the West. After Thatcher, high office sexism started its waning, slowly perhaps but surely.