Free Republic

CARACAS, VENEZUELA – Whether Washington is a hero or hangman of democracy in Latin America may be a matter of political perspective. Haitians watched last week as US agents whisked leftist President Jean-Bertrand Aristide off to the heart of Africa in what Mr. Aristide describes as a kidnapping. In Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez, another leftist who has antagonized Washington, has harshly accused the White House of backing coup-plotters against him. Critical of US action in Haiti, he warned the US on Friday to "get its hands off Venezuela." The Caribbean Community, or CARICOM, an organization of mostly English-speaking nations, is...