The Op-Ed Assassination Of Hugo Chavez by Justin Delacour

In assessing Latin American governments, U.S. columnists generally operate on the unspoken assumption that acquiescence to U.S. leadership of the hemisphere is a natural prerequisite to "democracy." By this definition, Venezuela's government--which frequently speaks out in opposition to U.S. meddling in the region--is considered "authoritarian." Gone is the elementary principle that majority rule and popular sovereignty serve as the basic foundations of democracy.

Having no basis to question the Chávez government's popular mandate, op-ed pages resort to casting the president as heavy-handed. Such negative portrayals of Venezuela's government were particularly common in the Miami Herald, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and L.A. Times, which accounted for more than 75 percent of commentaries about Venezuela.