Hugo Chavez has called George Bush "The Devil"

People like you need to quit assuming that citizens and governments are the same thing. We the PEOPLE, or "westerners" as you call us, are not a bit hep to the sh*t that's going on. We are not happy about the state of the world and what's going on in it. We are losing the freedoms slowly but surely over here. Our government tells us that our freedom is what makes the rest of the world envy and despise us. Just like they tell us that easterners are all religious nuts and want to blow up America...most of us have enough sense not to believe that any more than we believe other propaganda. That's what is good about MyLot. We can get to know the people of other cultures, not just what our governments and media tell us about those people and cultures. Get to the truth of the matters that we as humans from different cultures have been taught to believe all our lives. Please stop assuming all Americans are dumb and of the devil. It is simply not true. We don't have any more control over our leaders than you do, despite what the sheeple say.

I'd like to second that! Bravo!!!

Nicey, it would give your comments a great boost, if you could refrain from personal derogatory comments without any evidence or relevant information, to indicate that you have taken time to research for facts. Almost any random quote from Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Ch%C3%A1vez would negate your comment.

Personal derogatory comments? Where?

"because he's crazy","and again, he's crazy."

From your first link:..Quote"But if you travel to the barrios of Caracas, you hear a different story. Because here you get the feeling that Chavez is the revenge of the poor on a society that before never seemed to care about them. Many living in grinding poverty believe Venezuela's brand of corrupt capitalism is the reason they are poor. Chavez means hope. Here, he is no dictator. This Chavista, or follower of Chavez, says he hopes Chavez rules forever. What they say in the USA is a lie," he says, "because Chavez is not a dictator. Chavez is a president who has decided to govern on behalf of the poor." Last year, Chavez spent four billion dollars in oil profits on social programs, like a sewing co-op, which also includes political indoctrination every morning. State money also funds neighborhood food programs."~~End extract~~~~ From your second: Quote: "The rise of Venezuela's left-wing President, Hugo Chavez, is a lesson in what can happen when the U.S. disses an entire continent. After 9/11, when most Latin American nations refused to endorse the U.S. invasion of Iraq, President Bush testily turned his back on the region—but not before he was widely accused of backing a failed 2002 coup against Chavez, Bush's loudest critic south of the border. Washington denies the charge, but the perception of U.S. bullying won Chavez international sympathy. His anti-U.S. Bolivarian Revolution has been roaring ever since. At the same time, U.S. influence in Latin America is perhaps at its lowest ebb. As the Bush Administration cuts development aid to the region, Chavez, who controls the hemisphere's largest oil reserves, is giving cash-strapped neighbors discounts and favorable financing on Venezuelan oil and billions of dollars in loans. That largesse, coupled with Latin America's sharp antiglobalization mood, is helping a stunning number of leftists win or lead in Latin presidential elections today. Chavez's growing ties to Iran have prompted U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to brand him a threat to hemispheric stability. "I sting those who rattle me," Chavez said recently in his weekly TV address, "so don't mess with me, Condoleezza!" But goading America into messing with him has so far proved to be a formula for success for Chavez, 51, who is widely expected to win re-election in December."~~report ends~~~~ Your third link is not working for me (Page not found.) Your links do not appear to justify your remarks. I appreciate the US will see Chavez as a great thorn in its side. But I have to say, having looked at the record of what is laughably called "Free Trade" in South America, Chavez looks like the good guy to me.