I remember Hugo Chavez being overthrown by a coup d'etat on  April 11, 2002 and being replaced by a new Venezuelan leader. But the  late Pres. Hugo Chavez was later re-installed as Venezuela's president  on April 14, 2002. The late Venezuelan Pres. Hugo Chavez would later  face several attempts from the opposition to force him out of power, but  the late president prevailed over such attempts and succeeded in  maintaining his presidential rule. Pres. Hugo Chavez actually made a  state-visit to the Philippines in 1999. He signed 2 memorandums of  agreement with the Philippine government back then. The 2 memorandums of  agreement were a Memorandum of Agreement on Tourism-Cooperation and a  Memorandum of Agreement on Trade and Investments. The administration of  the late Pres. Hugo Chavez made tremendous efforts to boost trade  relations with the Philippines that Venezuela today is the Philippines'  5th largest trading partner in South America.

The Philippines and Venezuela share Hispanic heritage and  are both predominantly Roman Catholic countries. I think the Philippines  and Venezuela will continue smooth diplomatic relationship even after  the death of Venezuelan Pres. Hugo Chavez. But many Filipino  entrepreneurs hope that the one who will replace Hugo Chavez as  Venezuela's president should be truly-dedicated in maintaining trade-  and-tourism partnership for the benefit of both countries.

The late Pres. Hugo Chavez pursued an ideology in 2005  which he called as 'Socialism of the 21st Century'. It was not really a  new ideology in the sense that I think it was the same as Social  Democracy mixed with Populism. In other words, Pres. Hugo Chavez mixed  Social Democracy with his own vision of how Populism should work in  Venezuela, then called such mixture as 'Socialism of the 21st Century'.  However, it can't be denied that Pres. Chavez made huge efforts in  pursuing land reform, profit-sharing mechanisms, additional benefits for  workers and farmers, and other social reforms based on his concept of  'Socialism of the 21st Century'.

I believe Pres. Hugo Chavez was well-loved by most of his  countrymen and countrywomen when he became Venezuela's president. He won  the presidential election several times. He actually won 4 presidential  terms. However, it can't be denied that the late Pres. Hugo Chavez  somehow became authoritarian later on as Venezuela's president. The  opposition's constant demand of forcing Hugo Chavez out of power made  the late president's administration became strict with enforcing  national-security laws. Also, Chavez' popularity among the Venezuelan  masses made the late president's administration became so-conscious  about the blatant hero-worship of Chavez that the late president was  allowed to rule his country as either a semi-authoritarian or a  nearly-dictatorial leader.

Pres. Hugo Chavez ruled as a semi-authoritarian or a  nearly-dictatorial leader with constitutional processes and in  accordance with what Venezuela's democratic institutions had granted to  him. I don't want to judge the late Pres. Hugo Chavez as either an  anti-democratic leader who reformed Venezuela's society or a democratic  leader forced by circumstances to have some authoritarian powers to  defend his presidency from subversive elements. I would let the  Venezuelan people give the proper judgment on how the late Pres. Hugo  Chavez ruled his country. But citizens in a democracy should always be  vigilant in defending and securing their own human rights, civil  liberties and freedom. People living in a democracy should not be so  emotionally-attached to a charismatic ruler to the point of allowing  such leader to have a semi-authoritarian or a truly-authoritarian  leadership that can threaten democracy and freedom. Citizens in a  democracy should ensure that their duly-elected leaders will defend  their human rights, civil liberties and freedom. Citizens in a democracy  should always be vigilant and conscious about protecting their own  human rights, civil liberties and freedom.