Where Chavez is instructive...
It's not about his personality, or other non-essentials, but about observing his basic ideas on politics and economics, and the results of them being carried out.
As for "we've all been saying," that may be mostly true on this board, but you'd find a much broader range of opinions on leftist websites and other sources, particularly in older references.
Chavez and the "Bolivarian Revolution" was the great "progressive" hope of the Western Hemisphere for a while until the results of the revolution became embarrassing. The Left's movers and shakers responded to this conflict as it always does, by suddenly going into "who is this 'Chavez' of which you speak?" mode.