Putting the brakes on revolution

During my brief stint as a teacher for an ESL school some years ago, I encountered a bunch of angry Venezuelans. They were fine with the English instruction --- just don't get them started on Hugo Chavez.

Ah, these are the rich kids, I said to myself. Of course they wouldn't like el Presidente. If to the majority poor Chavez is a savior, to the students with maids, and padres wealthy enough to send them to Pennsylvania to become bilingual, he is just another South American caudillo.

Notwithstanding land transfer to indigenous people, and social welfare programs, even his base said no to Chavez in the December 3rd national referendum proposing the amendment of the constitution to eliminate term limits and to further consolidate the former military man's power in the country.

Perhaps Chavez' hobnobbing with Castro and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, or his refusal to renew the license of the independent RCTV television network that had criticized him, or just plain battle weariness over a decade of class struggle, congealed into the collective national decision to put the brakes on the "Bolivian revolution."

On December 9th, Chavez and other continental leaders met to launch a regional development bank as an answer to the oppressive loans of the World Bank and IMF. Venezuela, which sits atop the largest oil reserve on the continent, will be a leading financier. Will this be salvation for South America, or another perch from which the lately shaken Chavez can swagger once again?