Hugo Chavez

On September 15, President Obama singled out Bolivia, Venezuela and Burma for not doing enough to combat drug trafficking. Predictably the governments of both South American nations quickly reject the pronouncement from Washington.

The ugly irony of the world’s top consumer of drugs passing unilateral judgment on the anti-drug efforts of other nations has been explored elsewhere many times. What has my attention of late is the evolution of Bolivian President, Evo Morales, on this subject.

It is not easy being a regional leader in Latin America. Pleasing the constituents in your own country is tough to begin with and then, if you have the profile of someone such as Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, there are the hopes of millions who see in you the potential to affect the most pressing political and economic issues of these polarized times.

For some in this city, that very president has fallen short of expectations and the day when Brazilians go to the polls to choose his successor, October 3rd, won’t come soon enough.

To no one’s surprise, Hugo Chavez’s 11-year-old populist revolution in Venezuela has a less than stellar record on democracy and human rights.

In terms of cost and scope, the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative isn't exactly another NATO. But as a new approach to shared threats in the Americas, CBSI has a greater significance than its diminutive footprint might suggest.

The cooperative security agreement was designed to help 15 of the smallest countries in the hemisphere clamp down on illicit drug trafficking and the gun smuggling, money laundering, addiction, violence and corruption that come with it. The United States and the nations of the Caribbean are expected to officially launch CBSI early next year.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez loves a good rant, and in early November he directed his ire once again toward Colombia, warning of an imminent war between the two nations. "Prepare yourselves for war," Chavez instructed military commanders in a televised address on Nov. 8.

Days later, Chavez backed off his comments, claiming his words had been manipulated. But on Nov. 21 he announced the pending arrival of 300 tanks from Russia and again told his supporters they were obligated to prepare for combat.