How Hugo Chavez Helped Inspire Spain’s Far-Left Podemos Movement

Late in his presidency, Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez told a Spanish professor he was “very much heartened” by a youth-led movement that briefly occupied central Madrid to protest corruption and government-mandated austerity. What recession-racked Spain needed, he said, was “a true democracy” to replace its “capitalist” system. His guest, Juan Carlos Monedero, said during their televised chat that he couldn’t agree more. Venezuela is a model of Socialist revolution, he told Mr. Chávez, and “Europe is starting to look at your example.” More…