Pope Benedict XVI held a 35-minute meeting with Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, and essentially laid down the law:
The Pope took the unusual step last week of using a private meeting with President Hugo Ch?vez of Venezuela at the Vatican to inform his visitor of what he saw as threats to the Venezuelan Church.
At the end of their 35-minute conversation – unusually long for a private audience – Pope Benedict gave Mr Chavez a personal letter, setting out his concerns about issues such as restrictions on religious education, the independence of the Catholic media, and the impact of public health programmes designed to make contraception and abortion more widely available.
That’s no letter, Mr. Chavez. It’s a to-do list.
Venezuela has been wracked with corruption and violence against the Church and educational facilities since Chavez’s suspect election. The result has been a closer relationship with socialist regimes such as Cuba and Communist China, ultimately destablizing Latin America thought the imposition of socialist and reactionary anti-American sentiment.
Apart from miraculous reform, the sooner Chavez is removed from power the better. Hopefully those still loyal to the ideals of the open society still have the backbone to change things for the better in Venezuela.