Venezuela - "How We Operate"

Venezuela is an interesting example of defiance of U.S. Government desires!

It's elected leader Hugo Chavez is a "socialist" and regularly makes statements that are not exactly supportive of Mr. Bush and his administration.

Venezuela is approximately the 8th largest exporter of oil in the world. It is in both the U.S. and Venezuela's best interests that the oil keep coming to feed our large SUV's and other gas guzzlers.

The U.S. has already been highly supportive of a coup attempt where briefly insurgents took power.

As the U.S. attempts to pressure Mr. Chavez, he quite naturally becomes more paranoid about the forces seeking his demise, cracking down on anti-government media and similar. He becomes more like a "Fidel Castro" of old at least partially as a result of the pressures upon him, which of course feeds the "I told you so" mindset of right-wingers in the U.S. who want to end his rule.

Unfortunately for the Bush Administration, many people in Venezuela support Mr. Chavez in his "class warfare" favoring the poor at least in his rhetoric.

We will see how things change in Venezuela over time. If Mr. Chavez should miraculously prove successful in the long-term, his leadership might inspire other countries to defy the U.S.

Interesting!