And this surprises — who?
That Chavez will suspend the Venezuelan Constitution and declare a state of emergency if they do not elect him lifetime president is a foregone conclusion. He is already a dictator — as surely as Castro is, and his Bolivian protege wants to be.
Yes, but the resistance to him, by comparison, is surprisingly deep and widespread, as the many articles show. So he may not be able to pull it off with the price of oil so low. This article was printed in many Venezuelan papers and today the Archbishop in Caracas came out very strongly against his amendment to be president for life. I suspect the Holy Father may be acting somewhat like his predecessor on this front and there is a strong disaffected business community and a large middle class.