From a Reuters article posted on Yahoo news.....
With both presidents facing tight re-election fights, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez gave a (not so surprising) endorsement to Barack Obama - and said the U.S. leader no doubt felt the same. "I hope this doesn't harm Obama, but if I was from the United States, I'd vote for Obama," the socialist Chavez said of a man he first reached out to in 2009 but to whom he has since generally been insulting.
Chavez is running for a new six-year term against opposition challenger Henrique Capriles, while Obama seeks re-election in November against Republican candidate Mitt Romney. Venezuela's election is next weekend. "Obama is a good guy ... I think that if Obama was from Barlovento or some Caracas neighbourhood, he'd vote for Chavez," the president told state TV, referring to a poor coastal town known for the African roots of its population.
Chavez went on to say "After our triumph and the supposed, probable triumph of President Obama, with the extreme right defeated here and there, I hope we could start a new period of normal relations with the United States," he said. "Obama recently said something very rational and fair ... that Venezuela is no threat to the interests of the United States," he added.
Cowboys comment: Yeah, we know Obama made that asinine comment not considering (or ignoring) Russian and Chinese negotiations to build Naval bases in Venezuela.
Since coming to office, Chavez has projected himself as the head of a global "anti-imperialist" movement inspired by his friend and ideological mentor Fidel Castro of Cuba. Relations with Washington improved briefly after Obama took office in January 2009 and promised more engagement with Latin America. Chavez toned down his tirades against the "Yankee empire" and shook hands with the new U.S. leader at a summit.
