CARACAS – President Hugo Chavez won his bid for re-election Sunday in the most unscrupulous electoral exercise these commentators have witnessed in 20 presidential contests spanning 56 years. The results: Venezuela lost a chance to return to freedom, economic growth and uncorrupted government; Latin America continues under revolutionary socialist threat; the United States’ most important imported petroleum source remains antagonistic.

Venezuela’s economic decline under Chavez’s 14-year rule has come despite its enormous oil wealth — production has fallen by one-third. Venezuelans had every right to vote for a change, and they did. But the Chavez regime snatched it from them.