I'm not necessarily a fan of term limits. If the majority of Venezuelans want Chavez to sit for a third term why should their will be thwarted? I never read Chavez claim he was trying to stay in power for life so I'm not that concerned about that being a problem. There were other undemocratic reforms included in this referendum that I am glad were defeated, as are the majority of Venezuelans it appears.
The long term viability of this movement has more to fear from the U.S. than it does from a cult centered on Chavez. Ask yourself where Cuba would be today were it not for Castro and see if your answer doesn't look something like a haven for U.S. corporations. In the absence of any real threat posed to democracy put forth by Chavez climbing on the bandwagon of fretting over him possibly being President for life is to simply parrot U.S. Propaganda.
The majority of Venezuelans voted this down, not because they didn't want another Chavez term, but because of the undemocratic features in the referendum.
The "news" in the run-up to this election that was available in the U.S. through mainstream sources was absolutely awful.
John Thornton