Hugo's big mouth...

Hugo Chavez has a big mouth - we all knew that. But now he's insulting a cardinal.

Is Hugo trying to get his ass kicked? I mean, sooner or later, he is going to mouth off about someone who is not as charitable as a cardinal. Or maybe he'll nationalize the wrong company's assets - and Hugo will find that someone wants to kick his ass. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

It gets worse...

Hugo Chavez has declared he is open to the possibility of Venezeula becoming a nuclear power.

Why am I starting to feel more nervous?

Chavez breaks the 8th Commandment*...

Hugo Chavez has decided to steal the property of some American companies - and the theft could reach as much as $6 billion for one of the companies alone.

If I were the CEO of ConocoPhillips, I'd be thmubing through the yellow pages, looking for my local Assasins R Us. Or, at the very least, I'd be doing some Googling.

More tough talk from Hugo...

Hugo Chavez is talking tough again.

If there is a war in that area, you can bet he will start it... and at the same time, he'll claim he is the victim. The usual suspects will buy it.

If it looks like a duck...

The recent controversy over Venezuelan TV should be yet another indication that Hugo Chavez's proper title should be dictator. You can almost see the checklist.

And when his popularity falls, what might happen? My suspicion is that he'll go the route that Argentina's military dictatorship went: Start a fight to get a brief advantage in domestic opinion.

Chavez steals oil fields...

Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez has stolen other people's property again.

We're talking real monetary losses here. Some CEO may decide to do something rash.

Not that I would complain...

Venezuela talking tough...

It seems Hugo Chavez has been talking tough. Strategypage brushes on some of the territorial claims. Quite a list of Caribbean tourist spots, not to mention a couple of neighbors.

That said, I do not think there is much that could be done if Hugo did decide to use force. Guyana would be quickly overrun. Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao are all within range of Venezuelan air cover, especially the new Su-30s they are buying. The Dutch have no carriers, and no real way to project air power. That sort of situation tends to end very badly. Ask Admiral Sir Tom Phillips, commanding officer of Force Z. You'll need to find a real version of Melinda Gordon to talk to him - he went down with the Prince of Wales.

And while Hillary may have Guyanans in her constituency, she is also running for President - and the Democratic base across the country is largely anti-war and they also tend to be more favorable to leftist Latin American dictators than they are to the United States.

Latin America is going to get interesting.

Chavez wins...

Which means we get to put up with that asshole for another six years.