Chávez: Why back FARC when you've got Hezbollah

Just as he was starting to polish up his reputation as a backer of terrorists, Húgo Chávez finds his leap from the frying pan has landed him in the raging inferno of Middle Eastern politics.

Venezuela is recruiting young men for combat training with Hezbollah, at least according to the journalist Patricia Poleo of the Venezuelan paper El Nuevo Pais.

According Ms Poleo, (who provides names but no real proof, nor does she name her source) Venezuelan vice-minister of the Interior Tarek El Ayssami, and other Venezuelans of Arab descent are seeking out young Muslim Venezuelans to train them in Lebanon and prepare them for asymmetrical warfare against the US.

There are also training camps in Venezuela, she writes, located in Monagas state, Maturin district. Miranda state, Los Teques, at a location called El Jari. Trujillo state, El Paramo. Falcon state, Churuguara, Sierra de San Luis. Yaracuy state, Yumare.

You can read the full translation of the article over on Fausta's Blog.