The only other politician I've seen who really does act on their beliefs was Pepe Figures in Costa Rica.

Consider this: even Paul Wellstone ran for another term!

I gotta say, Chavez must have some REALLY strong beliefs, because when you are the defacto dictator of America's largest oil-producer, it's gotta be a tough blow to have to give it all up.

Looking to the future, we'll soon see if Putin has the cojones grandes of Senor Chavez, or just the frijoles pequeñas of a petty dictator. I'm betting on the beans.

This time he HAD to accept it. How comes that he won the 2006 presidential elections with a margin of three million votes, and while oppositors increased by this date, those three million of chavistas disappeared?

It's not abstention. It's that even the dead were voting last time. Not kidding, there are dead people and people that doesn't even exist in the electoral register. And they voted in the elections.

This time the opposition had witnesses in voting centers, which I think prevented the fraud.

It was a rather decent acceptance of defeat, was't it?

I also think the USA funnels lots of money into this and other elections in other countries, trying to influence the results. So it makes it even harder.

Perhaps Chavez really is a good soft flour bean burrito with lots of avocado, mushrooms, onions, melted cheese and red and green chili of South American politics, with a swig of their good polar beer

While Putin is more tough borsch and hard vodka (and also having to deal with USA cash funding opposition groups, etc.)

All this is certainly better than Bush, who's hooked on cheap Scotch and Fritos