Hugo Chavez, Terrorists' Friend

Last week I commented on a column by the Wall Street Journal's Mary Anastasia O'Grady ($). She asked whether or not Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez should be on America's list of terrorist supporters before providing ample evidence that the answer is, unequivocally, yes.

Today, my friend Thor Halvorssen, who is Venezuelan, adds additional evidence in a Weekly Standard article titled "Guerrilla Nation." At issue is not only Chavez's long-voiced sympathy for terrorists and thugs the world over -- he supported Saddam Hussein and the Taliban -- but his open support for FARC, the Columbian terrorist organization that has sought for decades to overthrow Columbia's government.

As Mary O'Grady, and now Thor Halvorssen, have stated, Venezuela provides a test case for incoming Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Her treatment of Chavez, as a sponsor of terrorism or a mere head of state loaded with oil resources, will be an early indication of the Bush administration's willingness to push for an end to state-sponsored terrorism. Those efforts can take many forms, and not every move needs to be broadcast to the world. But over time, we'll know whether or not Chavez is being held accountable for his actions. Those actions, by the way, include the reduction of civil liberties for Venezuelans themselves -- another poke in the eye to America's stated support for liberty and opposition to tyranny.