Adiós, Hugo

Hugo Chávez was not, by any means, perfect, but his care for the poor was at least as powerful as that of any modern leader.   Okay, his ego was more than a little outsized, which led him to make decisions about matters in which he had no particular expertise.  Venezuela's economy is a mess.  Inflation is crazy, the oil industry is thoroughly mismanaged, and crime is encouraging those who can afford it to join the other wealthy Latino bourgeoisie in South Florida.

Hopefully, Nicolás Maduro — or anybody else who eventually succeeds Chávez — will have the good sense to bring in some technocrats to do some problem solving, and not try to make every decision himself.  Personally, I think the Bolivarian Socialist model can succeed, but not run as a one-man show.