Whether you like the man or not, he was DEMOCRATICALLY elected by the MAJORITY of Venezuelans (not the 10% who had been ruling and got fat off the profits from the Oil company and Agricultural industry while 80% of the people lived below the poverty level). Why do you think the attempted coup in 2002 (that had possible U.S. backing) failed? Because the PEOPLE mobilized and came to his side. MILLIONS of Venezuelans demonstrated to get their democratically elected President back. (I won't tell you all the "democratic" policies the fake regime tried to implement in Chavez's absence...if you wanna more about the incidents see "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"). Since Chavez's administration, educational policies have been put in action to increase the literacy rate, and 20,000 cuban doctors have come to country to work for FREE in cities and towns where Venezuelan doctors have never gone before. What people don't understand about the land reform is that he is doing it LEGALLY, according to the Venezuelan constitution. All he wants to do is see if the landowners have STOLEN the land from the original small farmers, find out how much farmable land is not being used or wasted, and take back what doesn't belong. This all has to do with the previous reforms in the past, and correcting their errors. He isn't going to just take the land and kick out the owners/corporations that presently possess it and kick them out (although he probably should). It remains to be seen if Chavez is really on the people's side, or if he's gonna pull the ole okey-doke. But the majority of Venezuelans are behind him. And if he effs up, the people will be there to remove him from office.

What I don't understand is why people in the U.S. believe we have the right to impose our will on another country, are y'all imperialists or something? I know why the American government wants to go in...to get that oil! Maybe too many people here have fallen into the mainstream media trap. A newspaper like the New York Post or Washington Post has as much credibility as the cited Chinese newspaper. Time has shown that mainstream media outlets have LIED a lot more than any independent media source that I know of. Regardless, you have to do your own research, but understand it comes down to what the people want. We should not allow the U.S. goverment to infringe on another nation's sovereignty.

One last thing for everyone who seems to hate equality, fairness and justice for the people - Socialism IS Democracy.