It's cos I live in the West that I think that the Third World should be our stooges for all eternity. I don't want them to nuke the crap out of us, that should be obvious. But I do want them to mature, economically and politically. That's not going to happen with Western puppets calling the shots. So better to have an alliance of third world countries that benefits their development than no alliance. We don't have to wait on the West to help out the third world.

And Chavez isn't actively stamping out free press afaik, he didn't renew the license of a particular tv station. That's questionable, but not illegal by any means. But consider this article:

http://www.freepress.net/news/20947

[quote]Chavez as Castro? It’s Not that Simple in Venezuela
From Houston Chronicle, February 6, 2007
By Bart Jones

Alarm bells are sounding in Washington, on Wall Street and around the world over President Hugo Chavez’s latest moves to consolidate his Bolivarian Revolution in oil-rich Venezuela. He is — we are told — shutting down a television station, creating a single-party state, nationalizing key industries including some major oil projects, threatening perpetual re-election and vowing to impose “21st century socialism.â€