Word: fidels
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...therefore counterproductive to honor the oppressive without recognizing the oppressed. Since Augusto Pinochet was removed from power in 1989, Chile has been working to stabilize its democracy. The last Chilean president to visit Cuba was socialist Salvador Allende, who considered himself a great friend of the dictator, Fidel Castro. Bachelet’s administration has consistently shown its eagerness to boast of its democratic achievements, but improving relations with a regime that categorically opposes and publicly criticizes these democratic goals is a step in the wrong direction...
...picture emerges of a Venezuelan dictator using a hollow patina of democracy to legitimize his aspirations to hold power for life. Since his victory, Chávez has already revealed his wish to remain in power until 2049, when, at 95, he would be older than his inspiration, Fidel Castro, is today. We’ll see if Venezuela’s oil wealth can last until then. For the moment, it’s clear that this new referendum is a step backward for Venezuelan democracy...
...took office in 1999. Embarking on his first international tour as head of state, Chávez took a call from a high-ranking Clinton Administration official, who told the Venezuelan leader that it would be better for his country's relations with the U.S. if he avoided visiting Fidel Castro in Cuba. Chávez, a left-wing nationalist, had yet to develop his gushing friendship with Castro, but like other leaders all over Latin America - even those who dislike the Cuban leader and his politics - he took umbrage at Washington's assumption that it could veto his itinerary...
...foes fear that he intends to set up a democratically elected version of Fidel Castro's autocratic rule over Cuba. His fans counter that some democratic countries such as France allow their leaders to be re-elected indefinitely. But analysts say France has more developed political institutions that exert stronger checks and balances on chief executives. That's not always the case in Latin America, argues Walsh, who says Chavistas "are deluded if they think those institutions are working as they should right now in in Venezuela." (See pictures of Castro in the jungle...
...Chávez has also used Venezuela’s petroleum wealth to extend his influence in the region while the Bush administration focused elsewhere. In particular, he has invested in his ideological allies in the region, including Fidel Castro’s Cuba, Evo Morales’s Bolivia, and Rafael Correa’s Ecuador. But, for all his hatred of the United States, Chávez remains a dutiful producer of oil for American consumption, delivering over a million barrels a day to the evil superpower in the north. As a result, he has become an unfortunate...