COMMENT By accepting defeat in Sunday’s constitutional referendum President Hugo Chávez has confounded his conservative critics.
Venezuela’s leader has shown that he is – after all – prepared to accept the results of polls, not just when they go in his favour as they have in every one of the 10 previous nationwide votes since he first came to office in 1999, but when they go against him as well. But before boasting too much about the vitality of Venezuelan democracy, Mr Chávez should reflect on some cold and uncomfortable realities.
