February 25, 2005

Chavez Drops the "S" Bomb

One of Latin America's two dictators today admitted what even casual observers already knew: he's a socialist.

Andrea in Florida emailed this CNN story in which Chavez says:

Chavez, a firebrand nationalist who has governed the world's No. 5 oil exporter for six years, has persistently declined to define the precise ideology of his self-styled "revolution."

But, addressing an international meeting on poverty in Caracas, he said Western-style capitalism was incapable of solving global economic and social problems.

"So, if not capitalism, then what? I have no doubt, it's socialism," [emphasis added] said Chavez, who also rebuffed U.S. criticism of his left-wing rule in Venezuela and denounced U.S. President George W. Bush as the "great destabilizer of the world."

Since self-admitted socialists aren't so easy to come by these days, look for Chavez's use of the term to make more allies for him among the loony left on campus. He proclaims Che and Castro as heroes, denounces the dirty Yanqui president, and now uses the "s" word to describe himself.

Chavez may not be Che, but he's chic.

— Winfield Myers

| Feb. 25, 2005 | 10:59 PM