Corrales, Javier and Michael Penfold. "Dragon in the Tropics: Venezuela and the Legacy of Hugo Chavez."(Dragon in the Tropics: Venezuela and the Legacy of Hugo Chavez, 2d ed.) (Book review)

• Author: Stuenkel, Oliver

Corrales, Javier and Michael Penfold. Dragon in the Tropics: Venezuela and the Legacy of Hugo Chavez (second edition). Washington D.C: Brookings Institution Press, 2015.

Hugo Chavez was one of the most visible and controversial political figures in recent Latin American history. Javier Corrales and Michael Penfold examine Chavez's legacy three years after his death in the second edition of Dragon in the Tropics. The authors argue that the major legacy of Chavismo is the creation of a competitive authoritarian system (elections, but with built-in advantages for the ruling party), although Chavez's successor Nicolas Maduro has made the system less competitive and more authoritarian. This, the authors contend, has led to the most profound economic crisis in Venezuela's history.

Venezuela's democracy in the 1990s was frail, yet it was plural and checks and balances were largely in place. Chavez systematically eliminated the checks and balances, thus concentrating tremendous power in the executive branch. For example, Chavez awarded the executive...