That Loony Chavez is at it again! And Bill Richardson talks to Colombian daily

Okay, I call him a loony, but the reality is that he is filling a vacuum of neglect by the United States in the region and that makes him dangerous. Really, besides building a fence between the US and Mexico, ranting about Castro and tightening travel restrictions by relative between the US and Cuba and sending a bunch of military aid to Colombia to stop drugs (that works well, not) while doing nothing to help the people of the region economically, what has been the US involvement in Latin America since 911? Anybody help me out here? Hello, have I forgotten anything?
Well, at least there are some student leaders in Venezuela who are up to opposing the would-be dictator, who is hell-bent on amending the constitution to allow for his continual reelection. An article in the New York Times paints a picture of a few dedicated kids sleeping every night in a different location attempting to stir opposition to Chavez while fearing for their lives. At least Chavez's ex-wife, Marisabel Rodriguez, is speaking out against the changes her former spouse is attempting to have imposed on his Nation. According to Brazils' Jornal de Tarde the former first lady is taking advantage of her husband's behavior over the weekend in a regional conference in Chile to draw attention to Chavez's negative side. When commenting on the tiff between the Venezuelan President and the King of Spain, she expanded her comments to the liberties her people would be forfeiting if and probably when they approve the changes to their constitution.
If you missed all the excitement in Chile, let me fill you in. Not widely reported in the US press, there was quite a furor in Santiago this weekend when the King of Spain stepped in to support his country's President, Rodriguez Zapatero, who was being continually interrupted by Mr. Chavez, who called the former Spanish president, Jose Maria Aznar, a fascist and then accused the Spanish government of being complicit with the United States in effecting the coup against Chavez in 2002--an accusation denied by Spain. Reports in newspapers across South America, report that the King asked Chavez, "Why don't you just shut up?". La Nacional in Chile reports that Chavez says he did not hear the remark and for that the King was very lucky.
According to El Correo in Peru, chancellor Alejandro Foxley speaking on behalf of the Chilean government, who hosted the Regional Conference where all this excitement went down, said that their government, headed by President Bachelet, had a "higher level" alliance with Spain than with Venezuela, thanks to a series of economic agreements signed between the two governments, but that Chile did have a "good relationship" with Venezuela.
It is in Chile's best interest to hedge its bets, as Chavez, loony, dictatorial or not, has growing regional influence in the region. In today's edition Peru's El Correo also reported on Chavez's stops in Bolivia's Beni District to check up on progress being made on the construction of various large-scale projects including a 28 mile long dike by Venezuelan engineers and military personnel.
Meanwhile, Fidel Castro has weighed in on the latest breath of life that Chavez has granted to the 2002 coup. El Espectador, of Colombia reports that Castro deemed the "debate" between his Venezuelan protege and the King of Spain historic. He also adverted that an attempt could be made on Chavez' life.
Also in El Espectador is an extensive interview with Democratic hopeful Bill Richardson, current Governor of New Mexico, former UN ambassador and Energy Secretary and, according to the Colombian daily, the most likely Vice Presidential pick of any of the other candidates for the US Democratic Presidential Nomination. The paper's interest in Richardson, included the facts that he is Hispanic, speaks Spanish and is interested in Latin America. In his interview, which shows his breadth of knowledge of the region and its concerns, Richardson underscores the utter lack of attention and insight that the Bush Administration has shown Latin America in the aftermath of 911. When we have shown interest in the region--for example through support of the opposition during the short lived Venezuelan coup or in strengthening unpopular sanctions against remittances to Cuban family members or by funding ineffectual military operations against Colombian cocaine producers, which produce unpleasant environmental consequences without significantly curtailing cocaine supplies, the US government only serves to stoke the image of a man like Chavez.
While I feel that Senator Biden would be a better choice for President of the United States, and while I feel that in order for Richardson to be tapped for a major roll in a Biden administration, the governor would have to embrace or at least find a way to support Biden's Iraq plan, I hope someone in Biden's campaign--I hope someone in every US presidential campaign, translates this interview and takes it to heart. We are facing major hot spots in the Middle East. We cannot afford another one to boil over in our hemisphere.