[SmithL]

Hugo's policies seem to be working.

[FreePaul]

...critics of President Hugo Chavez are increasingly accusing him of failing to make crime a priority.

It is a priority. That's why Chavez is president.

[avacado]

Isn't Hugo one of Sheehan's lovers!?

[garyhope]

But, but, I thought it was a peaceful people's paradise.

What could possibly be wrong there?

[DBrow]

I bet most of the victims were critical of Chavez and said something aloud in public.

History repeats.

[Beckwith]

President Hugo Chavez are increasingly accusing him of failing to make crime a priority.

Well, he is a criminal, after all.

[agere_contra]

Hugo may not do anything about crime, corruption or the Venezuelan economy, but he's the only thing stopping the evil gringos from invading.

[theDentist]

That's why he's trying top pick a fight with the U.S. Like Hitler, he has few real answers, and so must blame external forces for internal woes.

[Dustbunny]

Another Communist/Marxist country with a fruitcake for a dictator going down the tubes of decency.

[jazusamo]

Hughie's the problem, not the solution.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

Hugo said: "The rich are condemned to hell. Christ himself condemned them," Chavez said in a speech Tuesday. "I say it from the heart: to be rich is evil."

[Mike Darancette]

Venezuela is among the most violent places in Latin America, and critics of President Hugo Chavez are increasingly accusing him of failing to make crime a priority.

Violent crime is Porky's friend. He can use it to eliminate enemies.

[wastoute]

Telling people that it is O.K. to take what they want from those who have it is always a dangerous message for the government to publish. Hugo is reaping what he sowed. Serves him right.

[RichardW]

This steaming pile is certifiable. Hopefully he will shortly receive his just rewards.

[hershey]

Doubtless Venezuelans are packing faster for their trip north.

[CLRGuy]

There were 9,402 homicides reported in 2005, down slightly from 2004

This has been my point since the beginning of the Iraq war. There are situations in this world FAR worse than Iraq. With a population of < 25mil (a little smaller than Iraq) they have this kind of murder rate. That's 25 murders/day, and it comes in ebbs and flows.

I remember reading a newspaper in Venezuela in 1993 when there were ~300 murders over a single weekend! I was shocked that I had never heard of how violent the situation in Venezuela is. But it's a story that happens every day, and nobody in the media outside of Venezuela even cares anymore.

Hugo Chaves has it easy, he could quell an insurrection and mask it as gang violence and nobody would notice.

I guess that's what you get when you ask for a despot. Is there a Venezuela/SA ping list?

[BooksForTheRight.com]

Chavez policies are to take from the "haves" and give to the "have nots". This is the essense of communism. One of the results of that is that crime increases. It is working.

[layman]

Venezuela's murder rate ranked third in Latin America

By my calculations Venezuela's murder rate is 11 times the murder rate in the USA. And yet they are only the third worse in Latin America? I didn't realize it was such a hell hole down there.

[eleni121]

Crime and Chavez slouch together towards anarchy.

[doc30]

Violent crime is also a great excuse to put is personal militias (i.e. goons) on the street corners to enforce law and order (i.e. Chavez's whims). The bigger the crime wave, the better for his plans. It's just a step toward a Venezuela Thog-ocracy.

[dfwgator]

It's Hugo's "Reichstag Fire."