Caracas Chronicles

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Today Hugo Chávez sat down with some of the few businessmen left in Venezuela to convince them, in between cites to Lenin and Mariátegui, that his Revolution can  peacefully coexist with private property and that he would never, never, try to turn Venezuela into Cuba. As proof, he went so far as to offer them lower interest rates and cheap dollars as long as they became minority partners with the State in everything they do.

Putting aside the obvious tactical retreat this represents (or does it?) and the complete and utter lunacy of believing that he still sees a role for private property, one thing kept coming to mind.

When did Hugo Chávez become so darn unlikable?

Occasionally, when hearing him or watching him, your horror was usually tinged by a certain likeability for the man. If you didn’t like anything about him, at least you sort of understood why people liked him.

But that’s long gone. He’s become a repugnant autocrat, and he can’t really hide it any more.

The only people who remain convinced are the crooks, the hopelessly ideological and the co-dependent psychos. There is no one normal left in chavismo.