Hugo's Torturing Definitions

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has accused George W. Bush of committing genocide and said the U.S. president should be imprisoned by an international criminal court.

The leftist leader made his remarks on Monday at a joint news conference with London Mayor Ken Livingstone after a reporter for the BBC likened some comments of his to Bush's phrase, first delivered shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks, "You are either with us or against us in the fight against terror."

At that, Chavez erupted in anger about being "compared to the biggest genocide person alive, in the history of humanity, the president of the United States -- killer, genocidal, immoral -- who should be taken to prison by an international court. I don't know to what you are referring when you compare me to President Bush."

Let's see - Chavez rigged elections and otherwise has turned his position into el presidente for life (or at least the next 25 years). He's a dictator who has simply dressed up the position with the trappings of a democracy despite that he's controlling all the strings.

He's got his neighbors in Bolivia and Cuba humming the same tune (taking the hint from Castro - Chavez has appropriated much of the same rhetoric and put the fact that Venezuela sits atop a huge reserve of oil to push his craven policies)- a blend of anti-Americanism and socialist policies that will do nothing except turn these countries into even worse basket cases than they already are.

Never mind the fact that substantively Chavez couldn't be further from the truth. The US eliminated a regime that engaged in the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of people - Saddam Hussein in Iraq - which at a minimum was ethnic cleansing and was most accurately considered genocide.

The US also overthrew the Taliban, one of the most repressive regimes in the world, and one that gave no rights to women whatsoever.

Chavez is using his oil to try and separate the US from the Europeans who are hit even harder than the US by any price spike in oil. Chavez has already alligned himself with Iran, and one should watch what he does next because his goal is to undermine the US and US foreign policies - including those dealing with Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Another warning sign is that Chavez appeared with Red Ken.

UPDATE:
The US bans weapons transfers to Venezuela:

The United States is imposing a ban on weapons sales to Venezuela because of what it claims is a lack of support by President Hugo Chavez’s leftist government on counterterrorism efforts, the State Department said Monday.

The Bush administration will also list Venezuela — the fifth-largest supplier of oil to the United States — as a “country of concern” in the war on terrorism, an official told NBC News, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The label is not as severe as being listed as a “state sponsor of terror,” but it reflects what the State Department reported in April about Venezuela in its annual terror report.

Chavez doesn't like the US and whines when the US decides to curb its sales of weapons to Venezuela. Go figure. He, like many leftists act, like petulent children when they don't get their way. Considering the countries that Chavez has been courting and alligning himself with (Iran and Cuba), this is indeed a mild step.

The articles fail to note how much money is at stake in these deals or whether it's a cosmetic issue. Venezuela has been dealing with Russia and Spain among others for significant weapons aquisitions. The US did provide a number of F-16s and support, but the support aspect has been curtailed. The US has sold weapons to Venezuela in the past, but its sales have been dwarfed by others.