Thugs in harmony.
“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 neighborhood, 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 hopes to win his election on Oct 7. It’s just possible that he could lose. If he wins, he’s hoping for more flexibility from a second Obama term. Did Obama promise him something that wasn’t caught on a hot mic?
“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.
Russian President Vlad Putin, who endorsed Obama in September, has a promise from Obama for US flexibility on missile defense in his back pocket.
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