Hugo Chávez is dead. In my thoughts, I feel like the Chileans must have felt when Pinochet was ousted; like the Egyptians when Mubarak was toppled; like the Libyans when Gaddafi was killed; like the Paraguayans when Lugo was removed; and like the Americans when Obama won, as well as the Brits when Tony Blair brought Labour back to power.
It is, I believe, a mix of joy, sadness, hope, excitement, and above all, anticipation. Because let’s not forget that the Chavistas, those who surrounded Hugo Chávez in his final years, are still very much in control: they hold all the firepower and all the money. They continue to follow the example of the longest dictatorship in U.S. history, while Colombian narcoterrorists and drug traffickers have infiltrated the highest levels of the Venezuelan military. Criminals are literally running the show in Venezuela. That is the legacy we will have to face.
Hugo Chávez is gone, yet unfortunately, Venezuela remains in darkness.