"Mr. Chávez is "spending considerable sums involving himself in the political and economic life of other countries in Latin America and elsewhere, this despite the very real economic development and social needs of his own country," said John Negroponte, the American director of national intelligence, in February at a Congressional hearing in Washington." <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/04/world/americas/04venezuela.html?ex=1144555200&en=48ab9eb241f0efe0&ei=5070">New York Times</a> Of course everything that Negroponte says should be preceeded by an acknowledgment that he orchestrated the murder of thousands of people as proconsul in Central America.  But it is rather amusing to read in the NY Times how upset so many of the rulers and owners of the U.S. are at Chavez's foreign aid.  They seem to all complain that Chavez is using foreign aid for political purposes, i.e. purposes that contradict "U.S." policies.  This is the usual hypocrisy of course.  Only the U.S. is allowed to use foreign aid for its own political purposes, especially in Latin America.  This is from the end of the article.... "In Cuba, Venezuela has supplied nearly 100,000 barrels of cut-rate oil per day — a deal Cuba repays with doctors and other services — making Mr. Chávez a benefactor on a par with the Soviet Union, which once bankrolled Castro's economy. In the Bronx this past winter, Citgo, a subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela, provided heating fuel at a 40 percent discount to some 8,000 low-income residents of 75 apartment buildings. Even in Philadelphia, where thousands of households are benefiting from a program by Citgo to provide heating oil at a significant discount, people were won over, despite Mr. Chávez's antagonism toward Mr. Bush. "All I can say is thank God for him for being able to help me and some others get some oil," said Geraldine Shields, a homeowner who received 200 gallons of free oil in January and will be able to buy fuel at a 40 percent discount. "It's time somebody starting thinking of the little guy.""