Redstate

By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in Authoritarianism | Contra Tyrannum | Dictatorship | Hugo Chavez | Tyranny — Comments (9) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Despite a repressive political environment, a demagogue for a leader and political machinery designed and determined to cater to that leader's every whim, the people of Venezuela stood up:

Humbled by his first electoral defeat ever, President Hugo Chavez said Monday he may have been too ambitious in asking voters to let him stand indefinitely for re-election and endorse a huge leap to a socialist state.

There is more. Read on . . .

"I understand and accept that the proposal I made was quite profound and intense," he said after voters narrowly rejected the sweeping constitutional reforms by 51 percent to 49 percent.

Opposition activists were ecstatic as the results were announced shortly after midnight--with 88 percent of the vote counted, the trend was declared irreversible by elections council chief Tibisay Lucena.

Some shed tears. Others began chanting: "And now he's going away!"

Without the overhaul, Chavez will be barred from running again in 2012.

Foes of the reform effort--including Roman Catholic leaders, media freedom groups, human rights groups and prominent business leaders--said it would have granted Chavez unchecked power and imperiled basic rights.

Chavez told reporters at the presidential palace that the outcome of Sunday's balloting had taught him that "Venezuelan democracy is maturing." His respect for the verdict, he asserted, proves he is a true democratic leader.

"From this moment on, let's be calm," he proposed, asking for no more street violence like the clashes that marred pre-vote protests. "There is no dictatorship here."

The White House took note of Chavez's setback.

"We congratulate the people of Venezuela on their election and their continued desire to live in freedom and democracy," National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns also said it was a victory for the country's citizens who want to prevent Chavez from having unchecked power.

"We felt that this referendum would make Chavez president for life, and that's not ever a welcome development," Burns told reporters in Singapore. "In a country that wants to be a democracy, the people spoke, and the people spoke for democracy and against unlimited power."

Quite so. The story is right to point out, however, that Chavez continues to wield tremendous amounts of dictatorial power. Moreover, there is no guarantee that he will not try again to subvert the remains of Venezuelan democracy in one form or another. Indeed, we should expect another such effort sometime soon.

But this is a day of celebration. Chavez has been defeated. And while dictators can be most dangerous when they have been severely wounded, it is equally accurate to note that Chavez's political opponents must smell blood in the water. With any luck, that will lead them to take actions that will result in yet another Chavez defeat.

In the meantime, let it be noted that various and sundry folk on the other side of the partisan divide seem to think that since Chavez lost the vote, he can't be much of a dictator. At least, not nearly as dictatorial as that evil Bush fellow. It took only thirty seconds of Googling before I found this. I wonder why they couldn't. Perhaps it's simply because they didn't try and they don't even understand that information that contradicts their grievous misapprehensions actually exists.

But then, that's the "reality-based community" for you.