He fixed 15 August 1940 as the day on which he would complete his conquest of Western Europe and broadcast from Buckingham Palace

Venezuela: President for life? Forward to six-hours-a-day socialism
Aug 16th 2007 From The Economist print edition

WHEN Simón Bolívar, South America's Venezuelan-born independence hero, wrote a constitution for the brand new country of Bolivia, it featured a lifetime president. So it should come as no surprise that Hugo Chávez, who claims to be a latter-day Bolívar, is proposing to let himself be re-elected indefinitely to his country's presidency.

The plan to abolish presidential term limits is part of a bundle of constitutional changes unveiled by Mr Chávez on August 15th. These would remove the last remaining checks and balances to presidential power in Venezuela. They would strip the Central Bank of all autonomy, allowing the government to spend the country's foreign reserves. The government would be given power to expropriate private property by decree, and to promote co-operatives and state enterprise...

His opponents say that Mr Chávez is destroying Venezuela's economy and its democracy, and needs ever more money to buy popularity. Some of his senior supporters, who have their own presidential ambitions, may also be discomfited by the burgeoning personality cult around the president. Bolivia quickly discarded Bolívar's 19th-century constitution and sank into instability. Once the oil money runs out, that may be the fate of a socialist paradise working six hours a day.