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Cuba's Cruel Joke *** Without dollars, life is grim. People line up at dimly lit government distribution centres, ration books in hand - libretas, the government calls them - for their monthly allocation. The books, which were established in 1962 to "guarantee the equitable distribution of food without privileges for a few," entitle Cubans to 2.5 kilograms of rice, 1 kilogram of fish, 1/2 kilogram of beans, 14 eggs and sundry other basics at subsidized prices. Through the libreta, each Cuban also gets one bread roll a day. Every two months, a Cuban is entitled to one bar of hand soap and one bar of laundry soap. Fresh fruits and vegetables come infrequently; meat might come once or twice a year. Until the mid-1990s, children under seven were entitled to fresh milk, but fresh milk, like butter, cheese and other dairy products, is now off the shelves. Before the revolution, two litres of fresh milk cost 15 U.S. cents, well within the means of the poor.

Cuba, a country with a coffee culture, produces fine beans in its Oriente province, but not for average Cubans. The good stuff is sold to tourists and exported to earn dollars, or reserved for the Cuban elite, while the government imports cheaper beans, grinds them, mixes them with ground chickpeas, and doles out 28 grams per month - less than one ounce - to Cuban citizens. The government also exports high quality Cuban rice for dollars while importing a low-grade rice from Vietnam for its citizens. It exports 90% of its fresh fruits, directing much of the rest to tourists and others who can pay in dollars.***

Fidel Castro - Cuba

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez gestures to supporters during a ceremony to open a new state food store in Caracas, April 22, 2003. Chavez has fired Planning Minister Felipe Perez after public disagreements over foreign exchange controls and other economic policies in the world's No. 5 oil exporter. REUTERS/Chico Sanchez

Terrorism's Western Ally***U.S. intelligence is still coming to grips with reports that Al Qaeda and other Muslim terrorist groups are setting up bases in Venezuela. A London newspaper reports Osama bin Laden has established a training camp on Venezuela's Margarita Island, a tourist destination that also has an Arab-Muslim community and a bad reputation as a hangout for smugglers and terror groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.

The more you know about Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, and his list of friends, the less surprising this all seems. Footage shows Hugo hugging Iranian President Khatami. More footage shows Hugo hugging Libya's Moammar Gaddafy. By the way, you won't find any video of Hugo meeting, much less, hugging George W. Bush.

But Chavez has met with Saddam Hussein. In fact, he was the first foreign leader to visit Baghdad after the first Gulf War, and he expressed his admiration for Saddam. He has offered support to convicted terrorist Carlos "The Jackal." He considers Fidel Castro his mentor. He gives sanctuary to Colombia's FARC rebels, a group that is trying to overthrow the Colombian government and has also killed Americans.

Hugo Chavez came to power by tapping into frustration over Venezuela's corrupt political system. He was elected in 1998 by a landslide. Since then, Chavez has been engaged in what has been called a "slow-motion constitutional coup." He has abolished the senate, brought in Cubans as strike-breakers against the oil industry, and organized gangs to beat up opponents.***

The agents were prohibited from telling anyone, even their families, about their missions. Veliz said his father, a longtime Communist Party official, was particularly upset to think his son was involved in groups that Fidel Castro's government calls "counterrevolutionary." "I'm sure that it really hurt my dad," Veliz said. But he said his father was especially pleased when he saw that his son was among the agents unmasked by the government after the trials.

What a warm, touching family story. Feel the love.

Cuban undercover agent Aleida de Las Mercedes Godinez, 49, talks with the international press in an interview arranged by the Cuban government Monday, April 21, 2003, at the press center in Havana. Godinez, who is credited with providing some of the most damaging evidence used during the recent trials of scores of dissidents, declared this week that the island's opposition movement has been permanently disabled. During the interview Godinez showed off her new Pentium IV laptop, right, sent to her last year by a Cuban-American organization in Miami.(AP Photo/Jose Goitia)

Here's hoping a Cuban patriot puts a bullet through her fat head before all is said and done.