President Chavez and PM Putin are “enjoying a burgeoning friendship,” finding common ground in their oppression of dissidents and the violent crime ruling their cities. ++ Their regimes do little to tackle the pervasive murder of political objectors and journalists; instead, the citizenry is faced with “a leviathan cloaked in the misappropriated vocabulary of democracy.”
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Putin is using Venezuela in reaction to US plans for a missile defense system in Europe. ++ With his economy in shambles and his opposition uniting, Chávez is happy to be used because he wants to rally national support by painting the US as a threat to sovereignty. ++ Bolivian unrest threatens Chávez’s own imperial aims, and fear tactics are being used in Bolivia in hopes of
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