Democracy is thriving!

In Venezuela, that is. From the Venezuela Information Office:

More people in Venezuela consider their country "totally democratic" than any other nation in Latin America, according to region wide survey results released this week.

Other results from the Latinobarómetro poll:

* More than three in four Venezuelans prefer
democracy over all other forms of government--the second highest ranking in
the region.

* Perhaps more crucially, Venezuelans have the second highest
satisfaction level with the way their own democracy functions.

* Venezuela is the second most optimistic country in Latin America about the direction of their economy. Only powerhouse Chile ranks higher in this regard. More
than half of Venezuelans say their economy is progressing, in a hemisphere where
less than one in three have similar confidence.

Unfortunately, Latinobarómetro didn't include the US in the survey (even though our Latino population exceeds that of many of the countries in the survey). But I've dug up some comparisons from recent polls:

• Compared to 56% of Venezuelans who are satisfied or very satisfied with the way their democracy functions, only 52% of Americans think the electoral process is fair (and less than one-third of blacks).
• And while 54% of Venezuelans think their economy is progressing, 65% of Americans believe our economy is in poor or bad shape.