The similarities between Chavez and his communist mentor, Fidel Castro of Cuba, are too many to list here. Whenever it's convenient for Castro to appear presidential, he removes his olive-green military garb and puts on a suit. Then he'll spew the same tired Marxist lines. Can we expect the "same old" of Chavez?
Last week, Chavez met with mayors and other elected officials and political opponents to try to bring together a country torn apart April 12 when his troops and armed thugs from his Bolivarian Circles shot dead dozens of unarmed Venezuelans protesting his policies. The chaos culminated in a short-lived coup, with Chavez triumphantly returning to power within 43 hours while those "patriotic" Bolivarian Circles rioted, burned buildings, looted stores and beat and killed more people.***