There’s hope for Venezuela, Chavez’s lust for power has been stopped at least temporarily with his attempt to impose a constitutional dictatorship, which failed by 2%.

The AP has a good piece on the comments by Chavez, and there is no word on whether or not Jimmah Carter is going to run down there and certify the results, although considering the socialists lost I doubt Carter is interested.

With November inflation at 4%, Venezuela will still have to deal with the consequences of Chavez’s disastrous economic policies, dubbed “21st century socialism” which not surprisingly looks a lot like 20th century socialism.

Over in Russia, Vladimir Putin’s party enjoyed a landslide victory in parliamentary elections, riding a wave of nationalism and the benefits of oil and gas driven economic prosperity. No need for Carter to book a flight to Moscow, with opposition party harassment and Kremlin controlled broadcast networks laying on the propaganda thickly, we can be certain the votes reflect a genuine win for Putin. The tsars are back in mother Russia.