It is January 2003, I'm in the Ecuadorian capital Quito, and my arm is aching. I am holding a tape recorder up to Hugo Chávez’s mouth and he won’t stop talking. Chávez is in town to attend the swearing-in of Ecuador’s new president, Lucio Gutiérrez, a man many expect to pursue the same radical leftist path as the Venezuelan leader (although, as it turns out, he doesn’t). Other Latin American leaders have come to Quito, but Chávez is by far the biggest draw. I am part of a scrum of journalists who surround him as he strides into the lobby of a smart hotel, smiling and sure of his own magnetism. I’m standing behind him, slightly to one side and I’d like to rest my arm by placing the tape … [Read more...] about The Chávez trap