Hugo Chavez - What chance a European Chavez?

Many of those interested in politics or how our world works will be familiar with the anecdote about the diplomat from Maoist China on a visit to Paris some decades ago. When asked how he thought the 1789 French Revolution had worked out he answered: “It’s far, far too early to say.”

It would be reasonable to adopt a similarly reserved judgement on Hugo Chavez, the fiery populist who declared a socialist revolution in Venezuela and was that country’s president for the last 14 years. He died on Tuesday after battling cancer for nearly two years.

It is probably reasonable too to dismiss the extreme views held by his greatest champions or his greatest enemies.