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Since coming to power in 1998, the Chavez government has inspired both fierce internal debate, and horror amongst Western governments accustomed to counting on an obeisant regime in the oil-rich state. In this rich and resourceful study, Greg Wilpert exposes the self-serving logic behind much middle-class opposition to Venezuela's elected leader, and explains the real reason for their alarm. He argues that the Chavez government has instituted one of the world's most progressive constitutions, but warnts that it has yet to overcome the dangerous specters of the country's past: its culture of patronage and clientelism, its corruption, and its support for personality cults, all fueled by the attention and interference of a succession of US interventions.