LA PAZ — The re-election for unlimited periods that Presidents Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales have sought in Venezuela and Bolivia, respectively, reflects a phenomenon — caudillismo — that has, sadly, never been far from the surface of Latin American politics.
At least Russian President Vladimir Putin had the decency of honoring the form of his country's constitution when he recently promised to step down and run for parliament.
Of course, several recent Latin American presidents succeeded in changing their countries' constitutions to lengthen their terms in office. Argentina's Carlos Menem, the heir to Peronism, the continent's most enduring form of caudillismo, was one such example, but his was a soft caudillismo, which basically maintained democratic norms.