Three Different Responses to Public Diplomacy
Hugo Chavez, President of Venezeula, gained a public diplomacy coup in reaction to the recent flooding in Venezuela. He moved himself and his entourage out of their home in the Miraflorres Palace to make room for homeless flood victims, while he moved into a tent given him by the Libyan leader Gaddafi. He ordered that the military make room for more homeless in the military nerve centre of Tiuna Fort and forcibly leased many tourist hotels to cope with the problem. (1)
"Nicolas's Yellow House is pretty big," said Chavez referring to the building where Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro has his offices. "A lot of people can live in there." (2)
Compare this reaction with that of Pakistan’s President Zardari, who left Pakistan to visit the West while his country was inundated with similar floods.
“Osama Sadoon Memon, from Lahore, told the BBC: "This visit should have taken place weeks ago. He needed to be here rather then enjoying cocktails in luxury hotels abroad at the government’s expense.”
Again, President G. W. Bush managed to engage in negative public diplomacy in his reaction to the flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina:
“Mr Bush disclosed in extracts of his new book, due for release next week, that it was "the worst moment of my presidency" when the rapper said "George Bush doesn't care about black people", during a televised concert to raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.” (4)
It is astonishing that Bush, in particular, with all the sophisticated public relations apparatus surrounding him, could make such a basic diplomatic error.
(1) - http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/02/venezuela-flood-victims-hugo-chavez 2/12/10
(2) - http://www.france24.com/en/20101211-chavez-trades-office-tent-aid-flood-victims 11/12/10
(3) - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10960094 13/8/10
(4) - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8112149/Kanye-West-regrets-George-W-Bush-Hurricane-Katrina-outburst.html 5/11/10
You set out some very interesting cases here. Of course, traditionally these would have been referred to a public relations successes or disasters, as they mainly affect domestic audiences; but in a world with global media, it is hard to justify the distinction between PR and public diplomacy, and it is interesting that academic and practitioners in the former camp and now thinking and writing about the latter. Nonetheless, I think you should explain more explicitly how these are instances of public DIPLOMACY.
ReplyDeleteYou also demonstrate the importance of deeds, when so much of the public diplomacy literature emphasizes information. A good corrective.
It is quite interesting the comparison between these three. I was not aware that hugo chavez left the palace for homeless people. He definitely knows PR strategies...
ReplyDelete