In an article published Oct. 17 in The New York Times, US-born Venezuelan lawyer, writer and activist Eva Golinger criticized President Nicolas Maduro’s authoritarian grip on power. Golinger is not just any critic but a close collaborator of the late Hugo Chávez, the progressive Venezuelan president who enacted radical, democratic reforms during the revolutionary period known as the Bolivarian revolution.

According to Golinger:

While some believe that Mr. Maduro inherited a tyrannical government from his predecessor, Hugo Chávez, I beg to differ. I was a close confidante of Mr. Chávez and was there for his rise and fall.

In her NYT piece, the renowned and outspoken human rights lawyer sets the record straight about Chávez with whom she bonded throughout the years she was in Venezuela:

The Hugo Chávez I knew believed in social justice, equality and fundamental freedoms. He won landslide majorities in multiple elections. He was even re-elected when he was dying of cancer — that’s how popular he was in Venezuela. Mr. Chávez pardoned many of his adversaries, even those who attempted to overthrow him in a violent coup.

Did he have authoritarian tendencies? His military background left him with a firm belief in hierarchy. The longer he remained in power, the more entrenched he became, which is why term limits and checks and balances are essential to a healthy democracy.