Venezuela Mirroring U.S. Middle East Policy

Like his predecessor, Nicolás Maduro is showing solidarity with the Syrian government, blaming the United States for the violence there. It becomes a weird mirror image of U.S. policy. Whatever the U.S. supports, Venezuela opposes, and vice versa. One problem, though, is that U.S. policy in the Middle East is very inconsistent, and therefore is Venezuela's:

El primer mandatario venezolano aseveró que las fuerzas imperialistas "temen al pueblo árabe y el pueblo islámico, porque cuando ese pueblo organice una rebelión popular y se ponga de pie, ese día nos encontraremos América Latina, el pueblo islámico, el pueblo árabe y haremos otro mundo, haremos la revolución mundial".

So Maduro believes the U.S. fears the Middle Eastern "pueblo" while simultaneously denouncing that pueblo as it overthrows (or tries to overthrow) governments in Syria and Libya. Obama denounced that pueblo as it fought in Egypt, while Chávez applauded it. If the Iranian pueblo rises up, you know what Maduro will say.

Neither government cares much about those people no matter what they claim. Both care about their own interests, which means supporting friendly governments and opposing those that are unfriendly. Both are deeply hypocritical.