Chávez bashes foes and U.S. as Venezuelan voting nears

As crucial state and local elections approach, President Hugo Chávez is ratcheting up attacks on opposition forces and wielding other polarizing tactics to distract Venezuelans from the nation’s glaring problems, including soaring inflation and a record-high crime rate. Chávez has expelled the U.S. ambassador, labeled the U.S. economic crisis as representative of capitalism’s failures, and alleged once again that he’s the target of an assassination plot while hurling insults at his political rivals. Full Story