Hugo Chavez sends President Bush congratulations on the bailout plan:
The U.S.’s chief antagonist in the region, self-declared revolutionary socialist President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, said his oil-based economy is insulated from the U.S. crisis by its growing detachment from “this perverse financial system.”
He mocked Bush for using government funds to bail out private companies. The Bush administration is seeking congressional authority to buy as much as $700 billion in bad investments from financial firms to unfreeze the U.S. financial system.
“I nationalize strategic companies and get criticized, but when Bush does it, it’s OK,” Chavez said on weekly television program Sept. 21. “Bush is turning socialist. How are you, comrade Bush?”