No business like Hugo Chavez business

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has ample allies in the world of commerce. Venezuela, with its surfeit of petro-dollars, is for some a cash cow to be milked. U.S., Latin American and European interests all vie for government contracts, concessions and investment opportunities in the cradle of "21st century socialism.''

It's not news that profit may trump ideology. And it was likewise no surprise that hundreds showed up for a Chavez gabfest Monday at the Sheraton in Buenos Aires organized by the Argentine-Venezuelan Chamber of Commerce. Chavez spoke for an hour and 29 minutes, clearly unbowed by Spanish King Juan Carlos' recent suggestion that he "shut up.''

The business elite listened as Chavez excoriated the "evil empire''  [the United States] and jovially recounted how he and ex-Argentine President Nestor Kirchner combined to torpedo George W. Bush's plans for a free-trade zone of the Americas. It did seem odd, however, wrote the correspondent for the Argentine daily Clarin, when the assembled capitalists broke into spontaneous applause at the mention of Fidel Castro's name, "something difficult to imagine in a meeting of Argentine businessmen.''

— Posted by Patrick J. McDonnell and Andres D'Alessandro in Buenos Aires