Venezuela
Daniel Romero Pernalete
Hugo Chavez is “unhinged,” said Daniel Romero Pernalete in Caracas’ El Tiempo. The leftist Venezuelan president has surrounded himself with “crawling yes-men” who reinforce his deluded belief that he is a populist who embodies Venezuela and the Venezuelan people. In his eyes, anyone opposed to his communist policies is “an enemy of the people” and a traitor to the national interest. Nor is Chavez content merely to crush dissent here at home. He seeks to be the spokesman for all “despotic regimes,” which is why he is “rolling around in the same pigsty” as leaders of Iran, North Korea, and Belarus. It’s also why he is using our oil wealth to finance leftist fanatics from the FARC terrorists in Colombia to the anti-democratic forces in Mexico. And it is the reason for his ridiculous rant at the United Nations, during which he referred to President Bush as “the devil.” Chavez “is actively seeking a fight with George Bush” to bolster his “anti-imperialist street cred.” In the process, he brings shame on our whole country. We hope the world will remember that Venezuela is much more than one petty man, drenched in “fanaticism and ignorance.” Chavez “is not Venezuela.” He is a fluke, “a historical error” that we will someday rectify.
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