we want to pump you up

Chavez praises the terrorist group FARC, which has been holding hostages in the jungles of Colombia for more than a decade:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Colombia’s biggest guerrilla group, identified by the U.S. as a terrorist organization, is an “army” with political goals that is worthy of the world’s respect.

“They’re a real army that occupies territory in Colombia, they’re not terrorists,” Chavez said today in his annual state of the nation address to the National Assembly. “They have a political goal and we have to recognize that.”

Chavez, who yesterday helped negotiate the release of two hostages held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, also said the rebels production of coca, the raw ingredient for cocaine, is a viable “economic and social system.” His unambiguous support for the group is likely to ratchet up tensions with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, who has made military gains against the guerrillas in the past five years.

Everybody’s got their eye on the Middle East. I wonder if Obama, Clinton, Giuliani, Romney, and McCain (the candidates who, as of this writing, still seem to have a chance at the nomination of their respective parties) have a policy regarding South America, because we’re gonna need one.