The Noble Lie

Oh man, my sides are hurting.

"If the Venezuelan government, for example, approves a law to protect consumers, they say, ‘Take notice, Chavez is a tyrant!’" said [Venezuelan president Hugo] Chavez, speaking in one of his recent weekly television shows.

Or they say, ‘Chavez is regulating prices. He is violating the laws of the marketplace.’ How many times have they criticised me for nationalising the phone company? They say, ‘The state shouldn’t get involved in that.’ But now they don’t criticize Bush for having to nationalise (the biggest banks in the world.) Comrade Bush, how are you?"

Nicaragua Congressman Edwin Castro agreed: "We think the Bush administration should follow the same policies that they and the International Monetary Fund have always told us to follow when we have economic problems - a structural adjustment that requires cutting government spending and reducing the role of government."