Has anybody noticed how much alike the two guys are / were? (What is the tense you use when one is dead and one is alive?)
1. Both used the same single natural resource their countries have in abundance to buy the voters’ allegiance through a series of populist measures. Of course, these measures are not based on any real economic development but who cares, as long as you can do what the Russians refer to as “milking the pipe”?
2. Both used the same natural resource to buy allegiance from other countries.
3. Both engaged in very flamboyant and weird behavior.
4. One dressed in strange ways, another keeps undressing in strange situations.
5. Both promoted an aggressively nationalistic discourse which made them hugely loved by the less educated among the citizenry.
6. Both used an obnoxiously repetitive anti-US discourse in aid of their jingoistic push.
7. Both believed that an anti-US alliance was possible and necessary and promoted it by – surprise, surprise! – milking the pipe.
8. Both loved Ahmadinejad with a strange passion.
9. Both were really good at creating paranoid narratives of conspiracies and persecutions.
10. Both had a horrible personal taste.
11. Both go out of their way to spread rumors of their enormous virility.
There are some differences, as well, of course.
1. Chavez loved Cuba while Putin makes every effort to pretend it doesn’t exist (for obvious reasons).
2. C. used a fake Socialist rhetoric while P. makes a similar use of a fake capitalist discourse.
3. C. cultivated the image of a typical Western dictator (giving long, hysterical speeches, gesticulating a lot, presenting an image of a guy next door everybody can relate to), while P. relies more on the image of a typical Eastern dictator (communicating his will less through personal appearances than through his aides, speaking rarely, slowly, and quietly, creating an aura of mystery, presenting an image of inhuman strength and achievement.)
4. C. always looked like he was in need of some Ritalin while P. always looks like he is desperate for a hemorrhoids remedy.
If you can think of more differences or similarities, feel free to share.
Clarissa's Blog 
I agree with you on all counts except one. The little man is also dead. He is running on steroids and tom-tom drums.
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Putin looks deeply unhealthy, especially after all the plastic surgeries.
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12. They were both elected “democratically”.
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I like what Sherman Alexie had to say on the subject of Chavez:
“Dear liberals, Hugo Chavez censored free speech, rigged the Supreme Court, and was an oil baron. In other words, he was a Republican!”
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Funny. 🙂 🙂
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I would vote for George W. Bush against the post-2005 Chavez.
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