from cnn

"We shouldn't forget for an instant that we're in a battle against North American imperialism," Chavez said. "On this continent, they have us as enemy No. 1."

Imperialism? Nay. Capitalism. Chavez can hardly be worried about Imperialism when he seems interested in creating a unified socialist South America, which I'm sure he would watch over as protector of the revolution. After 9 years in office the only people better of in Venezuela are the ones in the pockets of Chavez's government, or government officials. Chavez has been threatening to cut off trade with the US for years as well, and he hasn't. The reason? There's one country on earth that can efficiently process that sulfurous sludge they call oil.

As far as FARC, goes, they do four noticeable things- kill people, kidnap people, buy/sell weapons, and sell drugs. When Columbia killed the #2 man in FARC a few weeks ago, they took his computers, and FARC's relationship with Chavez seems pretty fiscal to me. They may call themselves revolutionary socialists/communists, but whatever idealism may lead someone to joining, in the end they're just a criminal gang, and internationally recognized as a terrorist organization. They've kidnapped THOUSANDS of people, the designation is not in question, so the only question is how long/much has Chavez been supporting them. Well, you could ask "is he willing to stop." My guess is that he tries to help FARC more publically. That would be bad, Venezuelans don't like FARC either.