Venezuela's Dictatorship Built On A 47% Dependency Formula

[Geee]

Investors Business Daily:

Big Government: Mitt Romney was blasted last month for warning about the intractable nature of chronic government dependency. But Venezuela's election Sunday, which Hugo Chavez won handily, shows how right he was.

Against all odds in a normal democracy, Chavez won re-election to a fourth term against a strong opponent Sunday. The margin was 55% to 44%, putting Chavez in line to become the third longest ruler in the history of the hemisphere, outmatched only by Paraguay's Alfredo Stroessner and Cuba's Fidel Castro, if he survives the six-year term.

It was a curious thing, given that Chavez is a colossal failure as leader — his radical Marxist program serving up shortages, crime, incompetence and corruption, and his alliances with the world's rogue states and terrorists making Venezuela a pariah state.

It was even sadder because his rival, Henrique Capriles Radonski was a credible, fresh-faced challenger who ran a disciplined, sharp campaign, vowing to align Venezuela along the path of neighbors such as Brazil.

Yet Chavez's 11-point margin was higher than any poll or exit poll, and while it's true he tilted the playing field by dominating the airwaves, flinging cash for votes and playing dirty tricks with the ballot itself — placing Capriles' picture by a party not affiliated with his political alliance — it wasn't quite outright fraud, as far as is known. Tellingly, Capriles' team knew all this and still thought it could win.