It was not that long ago that Elisa Moya, a middle-class Nicaraguan housewife, was regularly putting up with energy rationing and blackouts lasting up to 12 hours at a time. Then along came Hugo Chávez, Venezuela’s socialist president, who she thanks for putting an end to this torment.

“Now we can live normally again,” she says, taking evident delight in being able to effortlessly flick the switch on her stove to boil some water.