Well, you were talking about Latin American leaders being great spokespeople, weren't you? Pinochet was a leader of a Latin American country last time I checked.
That's like saying Pierre Trudeau and George W. Bush are one and the same because they both ruled countries in North America. Equating 2 Latin American leaders merely because they were leaders of countries in South American smacks loudly of raciscm.
Well, Hugo Chavez would have that beat in an instant because he consolidated both judicial and legislative power in his own hands, suppressed the opposition and the free press and appointed people to idiotic positions based on patronage seemingly at will during his televised Alo Presidente. What is so democratic, and particularly "grassroots" about that?
Chavez helped Venezuela establish a constitution, not only that he made it accessible to everyone, by making copies of the full consitution available in print format in local markets, street markets, readily available cheaply. I bought one myself when I was last there, out of interest sake. And I read it. In it he acknowledges the status of women, indigenous people something that that had never previously been done. Chavez included for the first time indigenous people in the Pantheon of Caracas. this is an important gesture.
The first the thing opposition you so blatantly support, did in April 2002, when they attempted with support from the USA gov't to seize power during the illegal coup, was to abolish the constitution of the country!!!
Suppressed the free press?? Are you on smack? The press to which you are referring to is PRIVATELY owned. Globovision would routinely call Chavez a monkey and much worse on the air because Chavez is not white and from Miami as the oldguard elites are used to having in a leader. Canal Ocho (channel which broadcasts Alo Presidente) is publicly owned.
'Alo Presidente' is a way of reaching out to the people whether you yourself like it or not.
What you don't know about because you may be an escualido: is the Bolivarian Revolution. How community members come together all across Venezuela and are empowered to make decisions that directly affect their own communities this encourages popular democracy and economic independence, (such as the massively sucessful hydroponic and community gardens initiative in the barrios, hell even downtown Caracas has a huge communal garden! where anyone can buy produce very cheaply) so when the escualidos decide to close down the supermercados in protest of Chavez' grassroots initiatives - the people won't starve! This was attempted in 2002 by the opposition.
The Bolivarian Revolution's success is only because of it's grassroots nature.