Venezuela’s democratic opposition leaders are disappointed by their unsuccessful campaign to unseat caudillo Hugo Chavez in elections on Oct. 7. It may be too soon to give up hope. Mr. Chavez is losing his battle with cancer, his regime is being undermined by infighting and criminality, and he must deal with a series of elections that will take place throughout the country in the coming year.
Hugo's cronies will be jockeying for position starting now. If we can keep the pressure on Venezuela to minimize election rigging, we may yet see an election unseat the inept dictatorship that is ruining a neighbor and helping Iran, thus trying to make the leap from annoying Axis of El Vil member to full-fledged Axis of Evil status.