Chavez hails Putin’s “great victory”

The Russian prime minister had better watch out.

The last time Chavez, the Venezuelan president, expressed fervent support for a leader under fire, things didn't turn out so well.

Not that Russia's enduring a rebellion like the old Libyan leader.

But it's looking pretty clear that the Russian leader's party may have rigged the most recent parliamentary elections, and that Russians don't like that. There's even talk about a Russian spring.

Other world leaders have been pretty quiet about all this. 

Except, of course, for Chavez. Per the AFP:

Chavez “praised the Russian premier on the great victory of his party” in Sunday’s elections and “envisions the upcoming presidential victory” in elections to be held in March, according to a foreign ministry statement.

Representatives of Venezuela and Russia signed deals on energy and military cooperation this week, so perhaps that's par for the course. Russia is set to pay $2.6 billion to tap Venezuela's oil reserves. 

It looks like Putin has a friend for life. And we're glad for that. Who else will support him in asserting that Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, is the one who fomented all those protests about fraud in Russia? Whose shoulder will he cry on when his own people boo him? 

It can get pretty lonely at the top.