With the ideological war that is currently being waged here in the US and throughout the world, (that would be the ideological war between freedom/capitalism on one hand, and Marxism/Socialism on the other), we sometime hear the Marxist/Socialist side try to downplay the fact that so many socialist countries are ruled by an unscrupulous, brutal leader who maintains control by intimidation, force, and just infringing on the populace’s freedoms in general. The next time you hear someone make excuses for Hugo Chavez, direct them to this post by Academic Elephant on the Redstate blog. Academic Elephant does a thorough job discussing the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights report on Democracy and Human Rights in Venezuela. Also cited in Academic Elephant’s article is an editorial in the Washington Post, which is also good reading.