The Madness Begins
| 'Dear Leader' - Kim Jong-il of North Korea |
Now no sooner had I written that piece than I read about the decision to embalm the former President's body - and put Hugo Chavez on permanent display - presumably as some kind of inspiration to the Venezuelan people.
In recent times the only other political figure I can think of who enjoyed similar treatment was Kim Jong-il - the recently departed Dear Leader of North Korea.
Kim Jong-il has of course been succeeded by his son - Kim Jong-un - and I dare say if you held an election in North Korea today - the latest leader of the Kim Dynasty would probably win a landslide victory at the polls.
But that wouldn't make such an outcome democratic - or acceptable in a wider sense - because any such victory would be based on manipulating people's prejudices and fears.
Going back into political history the body of Lenin - the leader of the 1917 Russian Revolution - was also used for similar 'demagogic' purposes by his political allies - when he died suddenly and unexpectedly in 1924.
Lenin's political supporters and successors in government - including Joseph Stalin - decided to turn the hero of the revolution into a political 'saint' - and exploited Lenin's legacy quite ruthlessly to their advantage.
So when I heard that Hugo Chavez's chosen successor and deputy - Nicolas Maduro - had stated publicly that the former President's cancer may have been 'caused' by the United States - I could tell right away that things in Venezuela are going to get worse before they get better.
Mummifying your former President is ghoulish enough - but inventing murderous misdeeds out of thin air - without a shred of evidence is dangerous - a clear sign that the writing is on the wall.
That the likely new government of Venezuela is already half crazy - and that's before the country's new rulers even get their hands on the levers of power.
