Many a deplorable despot has been “democratically” elected. Saddaam held ‘elections’… yet a win by 100% isn’t what I would call an election.

As for your distrust of all things “conservative” not all of us are out to lie to you. I’ve seen the SAME congressional report (not instigated by oliver north) reported on by several other sources but this was the only one I could find to link for you.

And who compiled this painfullly assembled non-qoute? Oliver North, known for his tendency to sell weapons of mass destruction to Iran, then lie to Congress about it. Also known for supporting fascist dictatorships like Pinochet.

I’ll say this. I don’t like Venezuala’s current regime, I don’t care for Chavez’s uber-nationalistic militarism. But, claims against him from the extreme-far-right of his country have absolutely no credibility — in the case of Oliver North talking about Chavez? I assume he’s lying, until proven otherwise. In fact, I always assume anything North says is a bold-faced lie.

For example, on United States TV networks, such as Fox News and CNN, we watched as Chavez supporters were shooting into streets of protesters. I remember being appalled at the violence. Then, on the BBC I saw a different camera angle — there were NO protesters — the street that Fox News said was filled with protesters was in fact empty, save a handful of snipers shooting at the Chavez supporters. The Chavez bodyguards were taking cover and returning fire.

So, while I think Chavez is a dangerous man, who clearly lacks respect for the rule of law, I (1) don’t see him as any worse than his predecessors, (2) I have seen pretty credible evidence that shows the American media is lying about him, and (3) believe he’s probably democratically elected. Whether we like him or not, we pretty much have to live with him. Just like we have to live with Bush.

I’m not assuming the author got their information here, but here is A source.

confirmed in the congressional report — is the role being played by Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez. …Venezuela is providing support –including identity documents — that could prove useful to radical Islamic groups … The Venezuelan government has issued thousands of cedulas, the equivalent of Social Security cards, to people from places such as Cuba, Colombia and Middle Eastern nations that host foreign terrorist organizations.

We also have Venezuela’s Chavez giving legal ID’s to members of Hezbollah and Hamas but he is also assisting their efforts to become proficient in Spanish to help these terrorists to infiltrate the US

I’m going to assume there’s no citation for this?