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Originally posted by Magnetonium George, I dont understand how you can defend Chavez and then at the same time clash against Putin/Medvedev. I don't get it. .......... No, but both of them get accused of similar things. I dont see Chavez as any better or worse than Putin. They are different, no doubt about them, facing similar problems. For example, nationalizing of certain companies/industries is done both by Russia and Venezuela.

I have no problem whatsoever with Putin nationalising any national resources in fact I would support that. It made me angry the other day when I watched a travel documentary on Russia to find out that a British company is the third biggest oil corporation in Russia! As much as you keep going on about Russian oil superiority and the profits to be made off it, they're actually being siphoned off by companies from my country (not that they'll be paying much or any taxes on their profits like!). That's just wrong. Those oil fields are the property of the Russian people, not some corrupt corporation whose history includes getting America to overthrow democratically elected governments to install a dictator just so they can get oil profits!

As for the anti-democracy accusations against both men, in Russia, I think there is more of a justification in Russia than there is in Venezuela when most of what's said about Chavez actually turns out to be the Venezuelan media or the American media making outright lies about him - and the fact the Venezuelan media can be so hostile towards Chavez (to the extent of mounting a coup for God's sake) shows you just how free they really are as opposed to in Russia...