Well said, davidasposted.  Here's a Venezuelan tidbit that seems to have escaped Chomsky's notice.  I hope.

Last Saturday, August 22, there was a march in Caracas against a new education law that would essentially force all schools, public and private, to teach Marxist doctrine ala Cuba.  Thousands of people peacefully marched, young and old.  I even saw a pic of one father carrying his toddler son on his shoulders.  The march had a proper permit and there were no problems, even though they were not allowed, as usual, to march to the National Assembly building, the National Assembly being Venezuela's legislative body.  The police and National Guard were out at dawn setting up barricades across the path of the march.  By mid-afternoon the march had grown to at least 100 thousand people, absolutely non violent.

As those at the front of the march came within half a block of the barricades, tear gas grenades were launched by the National Guard soldiers, and they opened fire on the marchers with rubber bullets.  Of course this ended the march as people ran away.

Later that evening, the National Guard commander who had ordered the gassing and shooting into the crowd appeared on national TV and stated that any demonstration against the Chavez government was the same thing as treason.

The next day, Chavez went on national TV and praised the valor of this brave soldier.  The following Tuesday he had a ceremony and awarded the commander the Libertador medal, Venezuela's highest honor.

For shooting and gassing peaceful demonstrators.

Since last Saturday things have only gotten worse, with the government's head prosecutor threatening prison terms of up to 24 years for any anti-government activity such as demonstrating, speaking, or writing against chavismo.  The man who took out the permit for the march has been arrested and, without public trial or even knowledge of his supposed offense, thrown in Yare prison, one of the country's most notorious.  At least eleven other demonstators are being held without charges.

This is what Noam Chomsky is supporting?  Perhaps he should learn to read Spanish, or at least keep up on the news from there in English like I do. 

Try http://daniel-venezuela.blogspot.com

Chavez' hero, role model, and mentor is Castro, military dictator of Cuba for over fifty years. The National Guard commander mentioned above, along with many other members of the Venezuelan military, have been trained in Cuba. Also last week, Chavez made a special effort to ensure Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe would attend and be an honored guest at a meeting in Venezuela in September.

Venezuelanalysis, BTW, where the Chomsky article above came from, is 100% funded by the Chavez government.

The enemy of your enemy is not necessarily your friend.