Libertarian Leanings

Hugo Chávez and Chris Dodd

Hugo Chávez plans to send tanks into the streets if his candidates don't win in this Sunday's elections.

In recent weeks he has begun threatening to use the military against his own population in states where his municipal and gubernatorial candidates are defeated. On a trip to the state of Carabobo last week, for example, he told voters, "If you let the oligarchy return to government then maybe I'll end up sending the tanks of the armored brigade out to defend the revolutionary government." Just as troubling are the president's declarations that in states where his candidates are not elected, he will withhold federal funding.

Venezuelans saw this coming. From his earliest days as president in 1999, Mr. Chávez began working to destroy any checks on his power. On April 11, 2002, after weeks of street protests against this effort, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans marched again in Caracas. Nineteen people were shot dead in the streets by government supporters. When Mr. Chávez asked the military to use force against the crowd, the generals refused and instead told him he had to step aside.

One might think that all Americans would have supported the demand to stop the bloodshed. But Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd threw a fit over Mr. Chávez's removal. The self-styled Latin America expert insisted that since Mr. Chávez had been initially "democratically elected" in a fair vote, he should have been immune from challenges to his power, no matter the abuses. To this day the senator calls the event a U.S.-backed coup, even though a State Department Inspector General's report found that the charge was false. Even the Organization of American States accepted the change in power.

Labor's bidding

According to Robert Novak, Democrats will be faced with a tough choice next week.  The Colombian Free Trade Agreement, negotiated more than a year and a half ago, will make its way to Capitol Hill for approval by Congress.  The AFL-CIO opposes it, claiming that Colombian labor unions are persecuted.  Guess where that story originates.

A rare insight into what the Uribe regime really thinks is going on was provided me by Vice President Francisco Santos on one of the many trips to Washington by senior Colombian officials to court congressional support. Santos told me Chavez's controlled labor unions in Venezuela are in close touch with Colombia's leftist unions, who in turn influence the AFL-CIO. Thus, the labor intransigence in Washington can be traced to Caracas.

A vote against the Colombian Free Trade Agreement is a vote for Venezuelan lefty Hugo Chavez. 

Chavez "endorses" McCain

Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez says U.S. relations with Venezuela could worsen with if John McCain is elected to the presidency in November.

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a socialist and fierce U.S. critic, warned on Tuesday that relations with Washington could worsen if Republican candidate John McCain wins this year's presidential election.

Much to McCain's credit, I'd say.

Irrational Exuberance

Venezualan President Hugo Chavez suffered his first electoral defeat -- ever.  He said he may have been too ambitious in asking voters to elect him for life.

Chavez has progressively steamrolled a fractured opposition since he was first elected in 1998, and his allies now control most elected posts.

At opposition headquarters in an affluent east Caracas district, jubilant Chavez foes sang the national anthem.

"This reform was about democracy or totalitarian socialism, and democracy won," said opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez said.

"At least now we have the guarantee that Chavez will leave power," said Valeria Aguirre, a 22-year-old student who had braved tear gas during street protests.

Anybody want to bet?

"Why don't you shut up?" said the king.

Speaking on the occasion of a summit of leaders from Latin America, Spain and Portugal, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez repeatedly referred to former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar as a "fascist."

Mr. Aznar, a conservative who as prime minister was an ally of Mr. Bush, "is a fascist," Mr. Chavez said in a speech at the Ibero-American summit in Santiago, Chile. "Fascists are not human. A snake is more human."

Spain's current socialist prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, responded during his own allotted time by urging Mr. Chavez to be more diplomatic in his words and to respect other leaders despite political differences.

"Former President Aznar was democratically elected by the Spanish people and was a legitimate representative of the Spanish people," he said, eliciting applause from the gathered heads of state.

Mr. Chavez repeatedly tried to interrupt, but his microphone was off.

Spanish King Juan Carlos, seated next to Mr. Zapatero, angrily turned to Mr. Chavez and said, "Why don't you shut up?"