what freedom
freedom to impose your views
oh come on the small state is trying to assert itself
like every other country its going through a phase
give it 20 -30 yrs(see it happens in every democratic country or at least before a dictator/pseudo dictator think Musharraf, chavez or a head of nationalistic local/regional party ascends to power it takes time for them to master global process of doing work..some learn others dont)
[single idol (chavez) cant turn country into socialist power it needs a enforcer think an all powerful party system(china ,USSR)or army(big financial player)(pakistan) what will happen is the point of interaction of two different system (capitalist and socialist) will create a nexus for corruption,might cause destablization,powerstruggleany number of things]
it isint like it can compete with usa (usa has more or less quite a say in regional matters in both the american continents)
you must realize it takes only a decade to turn foes into friends
one they get the idea of capitalism (free market 'n all)
as some one pointed out socialism is doling out manna from heaven be it oil or natural resources, it has only a limited shelf life
what chavez is doing is garnering support
i have not been into south american political system so no clue why he is doing that
maybe trying to stabilize his support base ,appease a local functionary(or a faction)...