Remind you of anyone?

Listening to Marketplace on Tuesday evening, the American echoes in two separate stories caught my attention. [audio]

One was a check up on the Venezuelan oil industry under President Hugo Chavez [19:00]. Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue said Chavez’s main objective has been “to consolidate his political power – stay in office as long as he possibly can.” In so doing, Chavez missed an opportunity to use the country’s resources for development and to improve the country. The Venezuelan oil industry is no longer the economic jewel it once was, Shifter said, explaining that Chavez had installed many in leadership positions whose main qualification was their loyalty to him.

In other news, Marketplace reported [7:20] that after the United Nations failed last week to place economic sanctions on Zimbabwe, America’s own Condoleezza Rice called on African leaders Tuesday to make Mugabe accountable. Refugees from Zimbabwe in London called for his ouster, the report said, “before the country is completely ruined.” One refugee complained, “Mugabe’s henchmen have embarked on a final orgy of theft and corruption.”

Remind you of anyone?

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