good article on Hugo Chávez

Geoffrey Hawthorn, "Baseball's Loss"

If only Americans got this kind of analysis on its major media. In its absence, it's up to socialists and progressives to make the case for an analogous "revolution" in the US, respecting, of course, the traditions and peculiarities of US culture and politics. Chávez obviously recognizes the need for international solidarity, and has successfully advanced that agenda, even if it puts him into strategic relation with despotism. Hawthorn's article, however, concludes by echoing the dreadful doctrine of "socialism in one country," which he thinks Venenzuela will be constrained to accept: "Socialists elsewhere will no doubt continue to enthuse, but Venezuela will in the end be on its own." Let's see how long they can keep it going.