We have seen far too often over the years that when people stay in power for too long they fall victim to its corrupting influence. They feather their own nests and cling jealously to the power they have come to regard as their own. This is very unhealthy for democracy.

Once again we reiterate our undying support for President Hugo Chavez and the wonderful work he is doing with his nation’s oil revenues in alleviating poverty but we also beg him to revisit this referendum result and allow his people to elect a successor after a set amount of time or a set number of terms.