Chavez Goes Even Further

When Hugo Chavez pops up in the American press these days, chances are it's bad news. The Venezuelan leader, who now rules by decree, issued an expansive new intelligence law yesterday. A key paragraph in today's New York Times story:

The new law requires people in the country to comply with requests to assist the agencies, secret police or community activist groups loyal to Mr. Chávez. Refusal can result in prison terms of two to four years for most people and four to six years for government employees.

This is Stalinist. (Brother John with the Russian history doctorate, tell me how much I am exaggerating.) Chavez fell short of the right to stay in power indefinitely in the December referendum, but it's getting harder and harder to envision him quitting the presidency in 2012.