October 28, 2008

58%

Quico says: That's the proportion of Venezuelan voters who still like Hugo Chávez. Datanalisis dixit. Granted, just 35% have confidence he can help solve the country's problems. But 58% still like him.

Ten years out, riding on a discourse that's equal parts Monty Python and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, this is simply an astonishing figure. The kind of reality check that'll send me scrambling for the nearest whiskey bottle.

But it is what it is. No use trying to wish it away.