Chavez’s Win Proves ‘Elected Autocrat’ Isn’t an Oxymoron
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Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Hugo Chavez is something of achallenge to the worldview of many rich-country observers. Hiselection victory this week has given him, health permitting, anew six-year term as Venezuela’s president. He’s the leadingelected autocrat in Latin America and maybe the world.
“Elected autocrat” is a confusing category. According tothe model that prevailed for decades after 1945, there arereally just two kinds of state: free and unfree. Democracy,good. Autocracy, bad. Chavez represents a third way, one thatmight be catching on. (Think of the former Soviet Union and theArab Spring.) He teaches us an important lesson: Democracy isn’tenough.