Yes, Chavez actually made such comparisons and meant it as praise. No wonder, according to the Christian Science Monitor, Ahmadinejad may keep his distance from Chavez on his trip to Latin America. Nevertheless, the Monitor has let the cat out of the bag and Chavez’s comparisons should be popular with most Iranians.
By the way, what is Chavez doing on a “world tour” with his nation so deep in domestic problems? And, given his well-publicized and outrageous crimes against his own people–indeed comparable to Idi Amin and Mugabe, how does he thing he can play world leader or serious statesman on a grand tour? In that respect he seems to share Idi Amin’s delusions of grandeur.
For more on Chavez’s praise and Ahmadinejad’s embarassment at the so-apted comparison see:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1124/p02s04-usfp.htm…
