Watching Chavez and Castro is like watching a dog take a shit. It's disgusting. I have seen such chum pal camaraderie only in prison break movies from the late fifties.

Chavez is a serious threat to U.S. power in Latin America. Castro is a fading star. The relationship between them is one of pragmatic efficacy. Cuba needs energy, Chavez needs popular support, so Cuba sends doctors so that Chavez can fulfill his promise of free health-care for all. Chavez also wants to stick it to the U.S.. He's made it his singular goal in life to battle the United States, not just in Latin America, but anywhere he can find allies. He just got through visiting the United Nations where he made a passionate speech in an attempt to rally Muslim nations to his cause. He's courting.

He's not just courting Castro, he's gathering allies all throughout South America, and wherever else he can over the rest of the globe. I recently saw him making friends with Danny Glover, that poor fool.

Back to Chavez and Castro. One point I don't see elaborated enough on is the rumor that Chavez sought Castro's support during the period that led up to the coup. For those of you who don't know, here's a recap.

Chavez is sworn into office in 1998, he then manages to pass a whole new Venezuelan constitution in less than a year. He manages this feat of strength by suspending the National Assembly and removing from office hundreds of judges who might oppose him. To be fair, the constitution was a big win for the millions of Venezuelans living in poverty. But to be even more fair, it came at a high cost. Most of the power that once resided in the legislature, under the new constitution, is in the hands of the president. Chavez has publicly stated he intends to stay in power for 25 years, despite the fact that the constitution he created limits his stay to 2 terms. He's pushing for another referendum to amend the constitution to extend term limits to three terms.

So he gets his constitution, but there's strong right wing opposition. The right wingers in Venezuela are a pack of vultures mostly. So it's the choice between an evil genius, and a pack of vultures. Chavez has done an amazing job of mobilizing the peasants and the working class.

The anti-Chavez forces at some point decide that Chavez must be forcibly removed from office. They stage a coup, the US is likely consulted but is not directly involved militarily. This is the type of thing that happens all the time in Latin America,

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