Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez can’t get enough of the spotlight. As if sending a book to #1 and being the name on everyone’s lips for calling U.S. President Bush the devil, Hugito is keeping the rhetoric up as he campaigns in Venezuela for the upcoming December 3 presidential elections.

Citing what he said were warnings from an alleged White House informant, Chavez told thousands of supporters at a campaign rally that President Bush has ordered him to be killed before he leaves office in 2008.

If that sounds too far fetched for you remember that the U.S. has in the past “intervened” in Latin American presidential politics. Be that as it may, one thing that Chavez alluded to in his speech should give all pause.

Chavez vowed to win the Dec. 3 vote and continue governing this South American nation until 2021. “Fourteen more years, that’s what’s coming,” Chavez said.
Venezuela’s Constitution allows a president to be re-elected only once in immediate succession. If Chavez wins a second six-year term in December, he wouldn’t be able to run again in 2012 without a legal change.
Chavez has floated the possibility of changing Venezuela’s constitution to allow indefinite re-election.

While this would still allow for elections, wouldn’t it be better to try and overcome the cult of personality caudilloship that South America is so well known for and instead help other possible presidents of Venezuela hone their leadership skills? Or is that asking too much?

Via / ABC News