Why this blog

Recent events in Venezuela have made this country a bellwether for all of Latin America. Bolivia and Ecuador have followed her lead and Argentina and Brazil are increasingly within the same political orbit. Given her exceptional petroleum resources and the messianic aspirations of her president Hugo Chavez to integrate Latin America under the banner of an anti-imperialist (USA), revolutionary socialism, it is no wonder that conditions there are throwing off sparks. As in all politics, the Devil is in the detail, and it is often difficult to get up to speed on all that has happened in the last 9 years of Chavez's rule. There are several decent news sources and blogs on the subject, but with events far outpacing understanding, it appears useful to me to offer English translations of key opinion pieces and some useful background material as well. My bias is clearly not in favor of Chavez whom I consider to be at least as terrible a leader, if not so dangerous, as Mr. Bush.