President for Life?

This is going to drive the fringe right here crazy. A referendum passed in Venezuela abolishing term limits, paving the way for Hugo Chavez to remain in power indefinitely. Of course he still has to run every six years and win the elections, so it's not exactly an endorsement for a dictatorship, but it is still kind of stunning.

I haven't followed the politics there closely enough to form a strong opinion on this, but I'd note in passing that Venezuela appears to be having their own economic meltdown with the price of oil dropping, so it's not a given that Chavez will be able to win in 2013 if he runs out of money to continue his programs for the poor, who have kept him in power so far. The electorate everywhere can be fickle.

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