Mr. Hugo Chavez, the swashbuckling president of Venezuela, has died. He will be missed by the millions of Venezuelans who benefited from his largess as well as by world leaders who delighted in antagonizing the United States and like-minded governments.
It would be tempting to call Mr. Chavez a 21st-century jester, but he was much more than that: He was a shrewd politician with a deft touch, who may have had good intentions but also embraced a dangerous agenda.
A former altar boy with a love for baseball, Mr. Chavez enrolled in the Military Academy of Venezuela and then moved to the parachute corps of the army, eventually reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel.