It is not normal for Americans to pay a lot of attention to elections in South America. Perhaps, based on this story in the Economist, there is a something important us to learn. And it is scary.

The Americas

Oblivious to the coming storm: In his first decade Hugo Chávez has presided over social programmes, inflation, crime and rising intolerance. Venezuelans will pay the price in years to come

Ten years ago, when Hugo Chávez took office as president of Venezuela, the residents of this Caracas slum would crowd around the gates of the nearby headquarters of Radio Nacional each Sunday. They were there to see but, more important, to petition their leader as he arrived for his weekly radio show.

"With the arrival of the Revolution," proclaims an information-ministry press release, "the quality of life of most Venezuelans [has] improved."

But crime, the cost of living and the problem of housing have all worsened substantially since Mr Chávez came to power.  Inflation in 2008 was 31%-the highest in Latin America. Food prices in Caracas rose by almost 50%. The minimum wage is just 800 bolívares a month, although many workers with formal jobs get a bonus of around 250 bolívares for food.

The government's hostility to private property has triggered a shortage of rented housing. Last year the government began to repair 150 houses affected by damp. But a day of heavy rain flooded most of them and ruined what had been achieved.

She points out that Chapellín now has three soup kitchens to help the poorest, primary health-care posts and a mercalito (a government shop with subsidised food). Not far away is an Integrated Diagnostics Centre (CDI), one of the free second-tier clinics set up by the government to offer more sophisticated medical treatment.

The most reliable opinion polls suggest that Mr Chávez will win the referendum on February 15th. "People don't care about the articles [to be modified]," says Ms Graterol. "What they have here"-she touches her head-"and here"-the heart-"is Hugo Chávez. They know their leader's future is at stake."

So does Mr Chávez. He has turned almost the whole of the state bureaucracy, including the armed forces and the state oil company, into an election machine. Pro-government rallies teem with public-sector workers in red shirts and baseball caps bearing the logos of government departments.

The opposition thinks Mr Bozo and his colleagues would be better employed trying to fix the mess in the oil industry.

Even so, Venezuela's economic prospects "are relatively comfortable in comparison with other countries in the region, and even the United States," insists Alí Rodríguez, the finance minister.

The government claims to have squirreled away enough to maintain social spending and pay public-sector wages. Since these savings are in unaudited funds, it is hard to judge how long the government can withstand a low oil price without big policy changes.

Many independent analysts expect stagflation, with the economy contracting by 2-2.5% this year and prices rising by more than 40%. The government will be unable to finance its social programmes and will have to devalue (their currency).

On the streets, few Venezuelans seem to be aware of these troubles. ...The government has resorted to large-scale food imports to tackle chronic shortages.

Violence and intimidation of opponents by the security forces and by armed civilian groups (some openly linked to the government) have increased. Students campaigning against the constitutional change have faced harassment and arrest.

The most disturbing incident was the sacking of Caracas's main synagogue on January 30th by more than a dozen armed men. They vandalized religious objects, painted anti-Jewish and pro-Palestinian slogans on walls, and stole computer hard drives containing a database of the Jewish community.

Days earlier a group of armed chavista radicals had attacked the Ateneo de Caracas, one of the capital's most important cultural centres. The assault was lead by Lina Ron, a prominent member of Mr Chávez's referendum campaign.

Ironically, the Ateneo provided Mr Chávez with a platform when he entered politics after leading an unsuccessful military coup against a democratic government in the 1990s.