On Thursday, at a conference, Donald Rumsfeld said the rise of elected populist leaders in Latin America such as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's president, was "worrisome".
He said "You've got Chavez in Venezuela with a lot of oil money... He's a person who was elected legally just as Adolf Hitler was elected legally. And then (he) has consolidated power. And now, of course, is working closely with Fidel Castro and Mr Morales and others."
Of course, President Chavez said on Thursday that they caught the US Navy attaché spying on the Venezuelan military for the Pentagon, and made him leave. As a result, the US did a tit-for-tat and expelled Jeny Figueredo Frias, a chief of staff to the Venezuelan ambassador. Frias was declared persona non grata and given 72 hours to leave the US.
Al Jazeera link
This is bad, because it is only going to increase the tension and it's counterproductive to a solution. Aren't there any "Leave Venezuela Alone" movements out there?