Hugo Chávez is dead, and his revolution is not doing any better.  His successor, Maduro, can't show his face in public.  Caracas is a city of empty shelves and angry people.  Venezuelans rush over to Colombia border towns to buy everything available.  This is what the wonderful country of Venezuela looks like after socialism. It was 25 years ago that Chávez took over Venezuela, as Joel D. Hirst remembered: 25 years ago – all the people of Venezuela have known since is Hugo Chavez.  Chavez in the morning,  Chavez at night.  Chavez in the soup and on the ricebags and stamped across the ever-scarcer toilet paper. Dressed mostly in red – until the occasional blue became necessary to bury a political rival. Then back to red.  The visage of the man fattening out before the ever-watchful eyes of the cameras as his grip upon power solidified; until he swelled with disease that seemed to mirror the...(Read Full Post)