"Stability" is in the eye of the beholder

Of all the things to bark about...

The US moved yesterday to stop Spain completing a $2billion arms sale to one of America's bitterest critics in the Americas, Venezuela's president Hugo Chávez. State department officials informed the Spanish government that it would not give the licences needed to allow the sale of a dozen military aircraft that carry US technology. Spain vowed to press ahead with the deal regardless.

The 10 C-295 transport planes and two CN-235 patrol planes, which Venezuela has insisted would not be armed and would be used for tackling drug smuggling, were part of a deal to supply ships and planes. "In a region in need of political stability, the Venezuelan government's actions and frequent statements contribute to regional instability," the US embassy in Madrid said in a statement. "This proposed sale ... has the potential to complicate the situation." (emphasis mine)

Uh, yeah, because things were quite stable when we were propping up dictators down there...

This is a petty slap at them over the region no longer playing ball on trade, nothing more. When you tie people's hands on every little detail & then have the nerve to call the result "free trade" & "liberalization", is it any wonder that they reject it?