I have often been something of a defender of Venezuela and President Hugo Chavez. Not that I find Chavez necessarily likable, but I have argued that he a.) was the legitimate, democratically elected leader of Venezuela, b.) seemed in no way a dictator (despite his penchant for many hours long speeches, a tendency of dictators), and c.) seemed overall good for most Venezuelans. I would say that a and c have not changed. But Chavez is now showing a teary-eyed fondness for some of the modern world's worst men and seems to admire dictators and terrorists.

From BBC News:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has defended jailed killer "Carlos the Jackal" and several world leaders he says are wrongly considered "bad guys".

In a speech to international socialist politicians, Mr Chavez said "Carlos", a Venezuelan, was not a terrorist but a key "revolutionary fighter".

He is serving a life sentence in France for murders committed in 1975.

Mr Chavez also hailed Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the late Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.

Well, there is pretty much nothing here I could defend, President Chavez. I will admit that there are cases where one person's "terrorist" is another person's "freedom fighter," but I disagree with your characterization of Carlos the Jackal in much the same way I disagreed with Ronald Reagan's characterization of the Contra rebels in Nicaragua as "freedom fighters." And even if there was some room for disagreement about terrorists vs. freedom fighters, your admiration for dictators like Mugabe and Amin, people who brutalized and starved their own populations for personal power, is pretty much inexcusable. I can understand your admiration for Ahmadinejad, though I completely disagree with you on it. After all, both of you are outspoken critics of US policy who depend on populism and national pride for support. And you both speak kind of off the cuff in ways that range from brilliantly blunt to almost clownish. However, Ahmadinejad's holocaust denial shows him to be either abysmally stupid or a shame-faced liar, and either way admiration of him seems well out of place.

Hugo, mi amigo. I have maintained some real respect for you and what you have tried to accomplish. But lately I have been wondering about just where you are going with all this. I mean...Idi Amin???? One of modern history's most stupid and brutal thugs? Mugabe, a much smarter by even more brutal thug? Come on. Get a grip Hugo.