Get a room!

There've been some catchy titles in geopolitical circles over the last few years. You've got your "Shock and Awe", "Axis of Evil", "Coalition of the Willing", "The Orange (and numerous other colours) Revolution", "Blood Diamonds", "Freedom Fries" and my new personal favourite... "The Anti-Imperialist Coalition". Dry? Sure. But so rife with meaning.

Ah yes, the AIC. That stalwart band of enlightened leaders who represent the cherished values of oppression, unbridled religious fervour, misogyny and, lest we forget, rampant megalomania. The major players? Iran, of course, and Venezuela. They're as close as brothers. Thick as thieves.

So close in fact, that last year Iran gave Chavez its highest state medal for supporting its nuclear standoff with the international community. Meanwhile Chavez has consistently urged the world, in a neo-Marxian display that would make uncle Karl oh so proud, to rise up and throw off the shackles of the U.S. He's even been so kind as to shut down RCTV, his country's oldest private broadcaster, to prevent imperialist subterfuge and, one assumes, some sort of nefarious, subliminal thought control experiment that the gringos had planned. Chavez has also been consolidating his powers as president, and it is rumoured, one day soon, might even declare himself "Grand Poobah", or its Spanish language equivalent.

Granted, our American neighbours, and if we're honest, we Canadians, aren't always quite the cowboys in white hats, but who is? At least there's democracy. A concept that's anathema to Chavez and Ahmadinejad.

A disturbing side-effect to this Caracas-Tehran mutual admiration society, is the increasing sense of acceptance of Iranian ideology, and expanding anti-Semitism that seems to be spreading in Latin America. For an analysis of this situation have a look at the World Jewish Congress' latest Iran Update brief here.