Chavez is not wacko. He knows just what he is doing. He's just plain old EVIL.
chavez probably is whacko. He is unable to deal with any authority figure (has been in confrontation mode his entire adult life), and probably got where he was because by all accounts he is very charismatic in person despite having no idea how to govern. He is still in power now thanks to the amazing incompetence of the junta that succeeded him in early 2002.
Of course, the VZ people elected him in 98 knowing darn well he preferred coup to election, a statement about their previous governments as much as anything.