For the past decade, analysts have debated whether the administration of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez is democratic. This debate now seems settled.

Over the past five months, the Chávez administration has launched an autocratic blitzkrieg of a sort not seen in Latin America since the era of military juntas ended a generation ago. After obtaining a 55 percent victory in a February referendum to eliminate term limits, Chávez and his associates have set about dispensing with every potential political...