Chávez had portrayed himself as the man of the people when he was first elected president in 1999. He was to stage a Bolivarian revolution that would break the establishment, vanquish corruption and create social solidarity and justice. Nearly three years on and he's turned out to be yet another corrupt, despotic populist, more in the image of fascist Perón than anti-imperialist Bolívar.

Although he condemned the massive opposition protests this week as a 'march of the filthy one' led by the 'bourgeois mafia', his control freakery and police state leanings have upset trade unionists and even his own Movimiento V República (MVR). He is ruling by decree (ie without need for parliamentary approval), he has demanded the media broadcast his every word, foreigners in the country can be incarcerated for criticising him in any way and he has even tried to stitch up the elections for the Venezuelan version of the TUC. Instead of sweeping away corruption, he has appointed all his friends into key positions, including the management of the state oil company, PdVSA. Meanwhile, he has done nothing to remove the country off its dependence on oil revenue and so the poor are still at the mercy of the international commodity markets. Chávez is more than a failure, he is a disaster.