Read the sour grapes here.
It's all about his control of the media and the "fear" the populace feels.
Hmm... Wouldn't you think that fear would lead voters to stay home? Instead, voter turnout for Sunday's election was over 80%. Compare that to an election in North America, where 60% is considered good.
Control of the media? Most newspapers are privately owned and vigorously anti-Chavez. The government owns about 5% of broadcast outlets and those get about 5% of viewers. Nothing remarkable there.
It's a tough nut for the WSJ crowd to get their heads around, but maybe a majority of the voters just prefer Chavez.
Unlike certain politicians further north who have campaigned on promises of hope and change, Chavez has actually delivered enough change to keep the hope alive. Under Chavez the gap between rich and poor has closed markedly. Unemployment is down. Vast sums have been invested in improving the education system.
Which is not to say Venezuela is without problems. Inflation runs at about 18%. That's more of a problem for the small minority that has significant cash reserves than it is for the working classes. For most Venezuelans that's not a big deal if you've got a job and a roof over your head.
Violent crime remains a problem. In the next term we'll see if eliminating poverty will bring the crime rate down. Venezuela will be the lab for a social science experiment that socialists the world over have been waiting for.
We'll see how it goes.
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