Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez likes being president so much he's arranging to stay in charge indefinitely. While this may be good for Chavez's boundless ego, it's bad for Venezuela.

Chavez has presented another rewrite of the country's constitution to the tame National Assembly. This latest version would abolish the current two-term limit and extend a presidential term from six to seven years.

It would also greatly diminish possible challenges to his authority by curbing the powers of elected governors and mayors in favor of local "communal councils" that will be dependent on Chavez for funding. And to secure that funding he is proposing to end the autonomy of the Venezuelan Central Bank. That shortsighted move is bound to weaken the country's currency and isolate it from international financial institutions.

Chavez has already scared off needed foreign investment in Venezuela and especially in its aging oil-industry infrastructure. He has nationalized various industries, and the new constitution would give him still greater powers to appropriate private property.

It is all part of his avowed plan to eradicate capitalism in Venezuela in favor of "21st-Century Socialism," which looks very much like 20th-century socialism with its proven record of failure.