A bribe by any other name

The Other Club suggested here that Hugo Chavez is standing on the backs of poor people in Venezuela by using oil for bribery elsewhere in the world. Manuel Rosales, the main opposition candidate in December’s election, is more polite::

Mr Rosales condemned what he called the cheque book diplomacy of Mr Chavez, accusing him of giving away Venezuela’s oil wealth to foreign powers.

Then again, Mr Rozales has to survive the campaign.