Looks like Chavez’s won the referendum allowing him unlimited terms as president. 54.36%, according to El Universal, but what does that mean? Roving gangs of thugs – “Chavistas”, as they’re known – are all too willing to intimidate and attack those who’re too bourgeois to vote the right way.

It’s worth remembering that Chavez took part in a failed military coup in 1992, and that he has already asked his people the same question they’re being asked now. They rejected his continuing hegemony, despite the widespread intimidation and massive campaign on the Chavez side.

He is no democrat, and has no respect for the people of Venezuela. His “new socialism” is exactly like every other kind – economically unviable claptrap.

Well, that’s what I’m going to tell the next socialist in Glasgow Uni who invites me to an event to celebrate Venezuela’s glorious socialist revolution.