La “democracia” chavista

La columna de Mary Anastasia O'grady de hoy en el WSJ:

There is only one thing more amazing than Hugo Chávez's defeat last week in a referendum designed to give him dictatorial powers. That is the suggestion, now being peddled by some members of the foreign press, that by accepting the loss the Venezuelan president has proven his democratic bona fides.

This is a preposterous claim, and no one is doing a better job of disproving it than Mr. Chávez himself. In the week since the vote, he has done nothing to conceal his appetite for vengeance and his determination to satisfy it. He has twice crudely referred to the opposition victory as excrement and he has even insulted his followers, who he says were "lazy and cowardly" for not turning out in greater numbers at the polls.

As to the democratic ideal of accepting the will of the people, he will have none of it. Rather, he is pledging to find another way to push through the constitutional amendments that voters rejected.