Largess envy -- Venezuela's Chavez tries to surpass Washington on aid

There's a bright side to the overheated rhetorical competition between U.S. President George W. Bush and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Chavez appears to be using his nation's vast oil wealth to overtake the United States as the largest benefactor in Central America and the Caribbean, according to the Reuters international news service. Venezuela has offered and is providing hundreds of millions of dollars in food aid to less prosperous neighbors and billions in low-interest loans to help area nations -- even those aligned with Washington -- buy Venezuelan oil. The United States, which has publicly disagreed with Chavez on trade and fighting drugs, has long been the region's greatest source of international aid. The enmity between Chavez and President Bush is legendary; the Venezuelan leader once called the U.S. president "the devil" at the United Nations. But if it is motivating Venezuela to share its wealth with its neighbors, why not? According to Reuters, Venezuela has helped pay for Jamaica's bailout of an airline, the purchase of power generators in Nicaragua and expansion of an airport and a fuel storage facility in Dominica, as well as helped Cuba survive economic collapse. Close U.S. allies Honduras, Guatemala and Costa Rica have sought and received aid from Venezeula. So what if Chavez is motivated by more than mere altruism -- the result is the same. Surely, the United States is secure enough not to worry about who gets the most credit.