Hugo Chavez is heavily criticised by the international political class and the press and media. He is dismissed academically as a populist and dismissed more generally as a rabble rouser whose anti-American outbursts threaten regional stability, at the least. However, a lot of the criticism and reporting lacks context. Outside the country, not much is known about modern Venezuela and even less about the history from which today s reality has emerged. Why is Chavez so loud and outspoken? If he is so bad, why does he keep getting elected? Does he really have the backing of a majority? Is he...