Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Chart of the day is....

.....this....
...which compares to this story yesterday.
The United States said Monday an ongoing military buildup by Venezuela poses a serious challenge to regional stability. The comments follow an announcement that the Caracas government of President Hugo Chavez has received a line of credit from Moscow to purchase Russian tanks and anti-aircraft missiles.

No further comment.

UPDATE: Kind reader 'MH' left a comment with this link to a BBC report that has the "embattled Chávez" (58% approval rating missed out of report, surprisingly) mentioned time and time again. If you read through to the end and get your eyes to gloss over the normal BS rhetoric, the writer does actually get close to the truth. But the biggest lump of ridiculousness is yet another analyst trying to create some some of friction and rivalry between Lula's Brazil and Chávez's Venezuela. This is the stuff of Rory Carroll's wet dreams and forms no part of reality. We laugh at you when you talk funny, gringos.

But the denouement of the report gives the whole game away. Right at the foot of the page we have that destabilizing Venezuela in context via this chart. Isn't it amazing how the US forgets to mention Colombia's arms purchases...