Is Hugo Chavez 1000 Times Worse Than Beelzebub? Or Just 100 Times?

The world needs to know about the crimes of Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela. So thank goodness the New York Times ran a detailed indictment of Chavez by Bernard Aronson today. I will quote some of Aronson's findings, but before I do, I must warn you to prepare yourself. If you care at all about the people of Venezuela -- if you care about humanity -- this will make you sick to your stomach.

Ready? Here goes:

Mr. Chavez has been spending state oil revenues freely and registering new citizens and voters en masse.

Good God almighty, what a monster! But as hard as it is to imagine, it gets worse. Aronson is too polite to mention it, but the government of Venezuela hasn't just been spending its oil revenue freely on nothing. It's been spending it -- the natural wealth of the country -- on health care and food for the country's citizens! And then it's spit in the face of democracy by REGISTERING VOTERS! Is it too soon to declare Chavez the combined reincarnation of Hitler and Stalin? I don't think so!

But at least the beleaguered people of Venezuela have found a champion in Bernard Aronson. Aronson was assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs in the first Bush administration, and now works for "a private equity firm that manages investments in Venezuela." Nothing says "I have the best interests of the people of Venezuela at heart" like those credentials.

Thanks also to the New York Times for making space for the column. It would have been easy for the Times to have said: look, we already did enough for Venezuelan democracy by endorsing the military overthrow of Chavez in 2002. But the Times decided to go the extra mile and print this.