Right, troll-mitter. I bow to your expertise in international diplomacy. Anyone with the slightest clue knows that Hugo Chavez was not the great champion of the poor he made himself out to be. A few Farkers have shared some particularly horrific stories about the conditions there, and how his detractors were treated, and I have no problem believing them.

On the other hand, it would serve absolutely no purpose for an ex-president, a statesman, to be dancing on the grave of Chavez when his charity has been directly involved in both observing their elections and vaccinating their people against debilitating tropical diseases. When you're in the business of trying to eliminate sickness and alleviate poverty on a global scale, you'll end up dealing with many asshats like Chavez, and calling them out publicly isn't going to further your goals.

http://www.cartercenter.org/countries/venezuela-health.html

Not to mention, our current government does not want to continue the Tupac-Biggie style beefin' that escalated between Hugo and Dubya. In my opinion, it was one of the silliest feuds ever. I hope that the new leader of Venuzuela will be less corrupt and more open to freedom and criticism. I hope he learns from the bad things that Chavez did and corrects them. Unfortunately, Hugo was still quite popular with many people, so it would not be very diplomatic for our leaders to speak badly of him, even if what they said was true.

By bringing up the topic of poverty in his statement, President Carter seems to want to ensure that the poor won't be forgotten by the new government, while being tactful enough to recognize that we are trying to repair our relations with Venuzuela. It's more fitting that the celebrating be left to those who were directly harmed by Mr. Chavez and his policies.