Cancer is a terrible way to die, even for someone as unattractive as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Still, Venezuela is better off with Chavez gone.
However, the country will prosper only if Chavismo disappears as well. Which requires the opposition to offer a vision of opportunity and prosperity for Venezuela's dispossessed.
Chavez was elected in 1998, a populist who challenged the country's profoundly corrupt political establishment. People desperate for change voted for change.