Bolívar could and did, in perfect good faith, assume dictatorial powers without thinking himself any less a “liberator” — because the essence of liberation was the destruction of classical monarchy. … “democracy” … might mean nothing more than that the ruler’s authority had been acclaimed by a more-or-less sizable crowd of “the people,” for example, his army.
SHHHHHHH!!! The young guards were, very loudly, making sure we didn’t make any noise going down the steps of Lenin’s Mausoleum in almost complete darkness.