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Opinion Forum:
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politics.
Saturday's
Lagniappe
Hugo
to go?
By
Jonathan
Rugman /Channel 4 News, U.K.
A
special report on Venezuela's extraordinary President Chavez -
friend of the poor, enemy of the gringo. But is he coming off
the rails?
>>Watch
the report
He's the president
with his own television show and a stream of semi-humorous invective
hurled at America and George Bush.
Venezuela's
President Hugo Chavez accuses the US of planning to invade his
country to take control of its vast oil reserves.
And last night,
he invoked the ultimate deterrent - the bow and arrow dipped in
Indian poison:
"If we
have to put a few arrows into any invading gringo, then you'll
be done in thirty seconds"
Venezuela
is the world's fifth largest oil exporter, and a major supplier
to America. That causes jitters in Washington, where Chavez is
seen as a demagogue who could spearhead a regional shift to the
left.
Chavez is
undoubtedly popular at home, where he has spent billions on health
and education programmes to improve the lives of the country's
poor, although his critics point to an increasingly authoritarian
streak.
-
Jonathan Rugman reports from the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.
Jonathan
Rugman
is Channel 4 News correspondent in Washington. Petroleumworld
not necessarily share these views.
Editor's
Note: This commentary was originally broadcast by Channel
4 News, U.K., Monitor,
on27
Mar 2006 (http://www.channel4.com/news/index.html).
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Petroleumworld 04/01/ 06
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