Chavez: The spider at the centre of the Venezuelan web

Yes, the likes of Sarkozy of France, Conroy Down Under, Wotsisname in New Zealand, Mandy, "Lord" Mandelson of Corfu (and, unfortunately, the UK), the Iranian theocracy, the Saudi Arabian powers that be, the aged communist apparatchiks of China, Fidel Castro the ailing eminence grise of Cuba and a select few others have a new ally today.

Chavez regularly lets fly at any media that crosses his path and woe betide those that have the temerity to criticise him or his actions. For example, Radio Caracas Television was forced off the air in 2007 and later had to re-launch itself as a cable channel after the president personally refused to renew its broadcasting licence.

Then, in January this year, cable and satellite TV carriers were ordered to cease transmitting Radio Caracas Television's much reduced programming to a much smaller audience on the grounds that the company had failed to meet the government's regulatory requirement that it broadcast, without comment, a selection of Chavez's interminable weekly speeches.

It should be noted that the President has a combined radio and TV programme on Sunday. "Alo Presidente" starts at eleven o'clock in the morning but doesn't end until Chavez finally runs out of steam. Having learned stamina and breath control from his mentor Fidel, this frequently takes eight hours!

Unsurprisingly, audience figures are in steep decline and so the president has come up with a new plot to boost his ratings. He ambushes the airwaves at any time of the day or night that takes his fancy. Normal programming stops in mid-flow and the harangue starts. Chavez is particularly partial to breaking into popular items such as baseball matches or salsa competitions.