Hugo Chavez is railing against Newsweek for, well, for predicting his downfall and the death of his mentor. Castro responded to these predictions by denying them and referring to Newsweek as "the empire's magazine." Want to feel the spirit of Castro’s speech?

"They feed on hatred and the wishes of the imperialism that they represent -- big money, big newspapers, the TV stations of the global bourgeoisie," said Castro.

The empire’s magazine! The global bourgeoisie! This guy is way more entertaining than Castro was.
Newsweek did basically predict the apocalypse in Venezuela, essentially saying that rising inflation would produce political and social unrest leading to riots etc. etc. Chavez losing power.

"The military steps in to depose Chavez and restore order, as 21st-century socialism spins toward the familiar 20th-century tableau of scarcity, poverty, and chaos," read the magazine.

Chavez said that the only uprising that could happen is if the opposition within his own country brought in an army from outside the country. And then he even addressed this imaginary threat:
"Our counter-attack would be tough, I warn them," Chavez said…

This is like pre-emptive boasting or something- It sounds like he thinks there may actually be an army coming to invade at some point…

Newsweek painted a not so optimistic picture for the storied Cuban leader and revolutionary icon:

"Fidel Castro has been ailing for years, and 2010 looks to be his last year on earth," said the magazine.
Chavez got upset- called it a false prediction. Good on him for standing up for his friend.

"They've been announcing for it for many years," said Chavez, adding, "I told Raul [Cuban President Raul Castro], 'this guy's going to bury you, me and all of us'."

Perhaps.

Either way, the torch of world stage fist thrower against the U.S. is clearly not in Cuba anymore.

Another interesting note is the Chavez is readying his supporters and calling on them to prepare for "patriotic passion" and to resist opposition in their attempt to get elected and cut into his majority in the National Assembly.

You have to give it to Chavez on that one- he is good at positioning himself, and a bit of a media-whore. He buddies up with Castro, and they probably have much to bond over, but then he starts attacking Newsweek and the U.S. in general- it’s like he is purposefully setting himself up as an enemy of the U.S.- like he is positioning himself as the oppressed underdog or something. He has the political majority in his own country and he is rallying his supporters to resist the threat to that majority- pretty good spin on the idea of an election.

Or maybe most of this is the characterization by our own American media of Chavez- that I can’t say- I know when I went to the Midwest for Christmas this year the folks there were hating on Citgo because of Chavez, so there is heartland success is demonizing him as an international political figure.
Will Chavez lose power? Probably not. Will Castro die? Good chance of that- he is old and sick. Should we be taking our predictions from Newsweek? Um, no.

Photo Credit:¡Que comunismo! (via Flickr under CCL)