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Yes, but I am not sure he would be so stupid as to allow such an obvious attack on Columbians and the Spanish. The Spanish and Columbians have been verbally against him and now he may find them putting their political and economic forces to bear. Also, Columbia and Spain are important allies to a country that has a vested interest in seeing Chavez toppled: the United States.

Chavez uses inflammatory rhetoric to push his armed street gangs into action. Then he says he'll find the people responsible. It's sick.

Venezuela's Chavez Tells World to Back Off*** CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez warned the world to stop meddling in the affairs of his troubled South American nation on Sunday, as police locked up a prominent strike leader on "civil rebellion" charges. The populist president accused the United States and Spain of siding with his enemies, warned Colombia he might break off diplomatic relations, and reprimanded the chief mediator in tortuous peace talks for stepping "out of line."

"I ask all of the countries of this continent and of the world ... are you going (to) stop this meddling?" Chavez asked angrily, during his state-sponsored television show 'Alo Presidente.' "This is a sovereign nation." The tongue-lashing followed a recent flurry of diplomatic communiques expressing concern over Carlos Fernandez, a strike leader and prominent businessman who was yanked out of a Caracas steakhouse on Thursday at gunpoint by police.***

Dictatorship by the Numbers in Venezuela ***Note that these extralegal armed groups are the ones attacking TV stations and foreign embassies. This is a lesson Chavez seems to have learned from his ally Yasser Arafat. The lesson is to use terror-but to keep it at arms length so you can deny direct involvement. Arafat's little dictatorship has a three-tiered structure: there is the official quasi-government, the Palestinian Authority; then the Tanzim, a militia loyal to Arafat and his Fatah faction; then there are groups like the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a terrorist cell used to do the really dirty work. Chavez has the national guard, the main military group under his control; then he has his street militias, the Bolivarian Circles; and now he has the Coordinadora Simon Bolivar, which claimed credit for today's bombings.***