And not the common, temporary kind of sadness. It made me sad for this country's future. Chavez came into power selling himself with fancy wordwork, calling himself a socialist, and making promises about empowering the less fortunate. What he actually did was steal from everyone, keep away foreign interaction except that beneficial to him, and keep the poor under his thumb by handing out scraps of food and other goods as though he was helping them, or as if it was enough..