Paul Crowley

I'm pretty sure Chavez would've been a lot worse if he'd come to power through his failed coup than through the democratic election in the late 90s. It's hard to get information I trust about him (he's not exactly an uncontroversial figure, and the coverage is absurdly polarised) but he's shown more than incidental authoritarian tendencies. If his coup had succeeded and he hadn't had to base his claim for political legitimacy on a democratic mandate, I think his more Stalinist inclinations would've had a lot freer reign, with very bad consequences for Venezuelans.