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Through the application of an analytical model categorized as 'missionary,' this article examines the cultural and political-religious frames that sustain the leadership of Hugo Chavez. It demonstrates that missionary politics is a forceful presence in today's Venezuela, and should be understood as a form of political religion characterized by a dynamic relationship between a charismatic leader and a moral community that is invested with a mission of salvation against conspiratorial enemies. The leader's verbal and nonverbal discourses play an essential role in the development of such a missionary mode of politics, which seeks to provide the alienated mass of underprivileged citizens with an identity and a sense of active participation in national affairs. This study argues that purely utilitarian and materialistic explanations of Chavez's leadership fail to capture these soteriological dynamics in his movement. Adapted from the source document.

Reviews numerous changes, developments, and highlights in Latin American internal politics, society, and economy within a perspective of overall improvement and stability in the region as well as increasingly promising relations with Russia. The questions of political stability, national and regional security, economic growth, United States relations with the region, Cuba's changing status, the future relationship with the European Union, and developing connections with Russia are assessed in detail. Concludes that the future of Russian-Latin American relations is bright given that previous barriers to cooperation including geographical distance, short-sighted Russian foreign policy, and Cold War ideology have become of little consequence.