Will Chavez Succeed In Reshaping Venezuela?
Historically, meaningful transformations of societies were accomplished through incremental changes or violent revolutions. There is not any doubt that communism, a distinctly authoritarian system, transformed Russia, China, and Cuba, but peaceful democratic transition also changed the faces of many nations in Asia and Latin America, notably, South Korea, Malaysia, and Brazil, to name a few. Considering these contradictory social transformations of the last century in Europe, Asia, and Latin America, the jury is still out as to what is the best method that guarantees success.
Third World leaders generally face a dreadful dilemma: implementing what they believe is right for their country or toying with what is permissible or practical under the unwritten rules that govern international relations. Numerous precedents have invariably proven that those leaders who chose the former failed miserably and sometimes paid dearly for their actions. Although many of those fallen leaders are revered by many around the world as martyrs and revolutionaries, they exhibited political shortsightedness that was nothing less than absolute naiveté. The late Patrice Lumumba of Congo (1965) and Salvador Allende of Chile (1973) were the most prominent members of that group.

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