From VHeadline I suppose some people are going to think that I am losing my mind writing an editorial where I am going to compare some of the actions of former Venezuelan president, Carlos Andres Perez, to those of Saddam Hussein and some of current president Hugo Chavez’s actions to those of U.S. president George W. Bush. But I have never declared that I am totally sane and I have no intention to ever do so.

From VHeadline Back in December 2002 and January 2003, when Venezuelan businessmen locked out their workers and when the well paid executives and employees of PDVSA went on strike, Johnnie Walker made its anti-government contribution through a series of billboards that were peppered throughout Caracas.

The advertisements were very simple, black and white. Two arrows pointed in opposite directions. A small Johnnie Walker was down in the corner with the words, “Keep Walking.” But next to the arrows there were also words. Everything to the left was negative; everything to the right was positive. Since President Chavez constantly spoke of a “peaceful revolution,” “leftist” was the only way to characterize it. And Johnnie Walker didn’t seem to want to leave any doubts in people’s minds what that meant.

From Vheadline As I move around Caracas, I sometimes have the feeling that Mother Theresa of Calcutta is following me. I see her picture on billboards. There is mention of her in newspapers. Church walls have huge paintings of her and some priests even include her name after Mary and Joseph in the middle of their Masses.

I see and hear so much about her that sometimes I get the feeling that this holy woman, who went around the world begging the rich to give a few of their pennies to the poor, was a Venezuelan. Only Johnnie Walker seems to be better publicized as a solution to the world’s current problems.

I just saw that the DVD version of Mel Gibson’s “blood drenched film about the last hours in the life of Jesus” (Reuter’s article by Steve Gorman) sold 2.4 million copies by lunchtime today (31 August 2004). I also learned that only “Shrek 2” and “Spider-Man 2” have made more money than “The Passion of Christ” this year. Isn’t that something to think about?

Over a year-and-a-half ago, I estimated that Chavez maintained a 60-40% level of support. Since then I have repeated that evaluation based on my totally "un-scientific" random interviews with people throughout Venezuela. Sunday's referendum proved my analysis to be correct.

At the same time, the major polling services have continuously released contrary figures, often saying that Chavez's support had dropped to less than 30%. I write this not to toot my own horn but to show either the ineptitude of the "professionals" or the maliciousness of the firms involved, their sponsors and the mass media that propagated the wrong information.

If I had a better memory, I could write a book about my experiences trying to speak like a Venezuelan--something that I have never accomplished and never will. But let me share with you two interesting events.

I was just a child when I heard my mother say to my father one afternoon: “Frank, who is that man coming to our door?” It was the laundry man, Steve, a friend of my father. My mother had a message for him--a message that she prepared more than twenty years before.

The Rocky Mountain News is one of Denver, Colorado's two major newspapers. On Friday, June 25 2004, it published the following as their lead editorial on the op-ed page:

The State Department of the United States has just issued its report on Human Rights in Latin America. Maybe the day has come when the Latin American countries should issue a report on human rights within the United States.

Whenever I return to the United States, if anyone should notice me they see a person leaving an airplane. But mentally, I am stepping out of a spacecraft. Not as an astronaut, but as an extraterrestrial being. Even my English seems to betray me.