HUGO CHAVEZ
(…flamboyant rider of autocratic populism)

Hugo Chavez, of Venezuela, is dead of cancer, after fourteen years in power as its –El Supremo – .

 His rise to power is a classic example of what almost always emerges from so many of the world’s petri-dishes of oligarchic abuses and corruption. Almost always the revolutions against these end up with regimes based upon flamboyant autocratic populism. And Hugo Chavez was an extremely shrewd manipulator and rider of the populist wave that brought him to power.

The problem with such means of acquiring power is that they inevitably lead to dictatorship of one kind or another, either by a very small and close-knit group, or, by a single individual who, with a combination of charisma, skilled demagoguery, and personal flamboyance of style, succeeds in grabbing unto the levers of power Hugo Chavez was of that ilk.

The other problem with autocracy is that it rarely creates any kind of strong institutional foundations for the long term, making future succession transitions from current rule times of political factionalism and economic turmoil. And when there is also an enormous petro-cow pie involved (as there is in Venezuela), the scramble to gain either full or major control of the riches that flow from it simply aggravates the contentions between the factions involved. In short, everything goes back to square one, and the process starts all over again.

Meanwhile, people and their country suffer from insecurity, poverty, and limited opportunities to accomplish anything with their lives.

Such is Venezuela today. One can only hope that, this time, its people will be able to break such a vicious cycle, and manage to come up with something better for themselves.

CENTURION