In Venezuela, Tyranny Is on the March (Rep. Connie Mack)

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is continuing his march away from freedom and toward totalitarianism and isolation.

Hugo Chavez’s decisions to withdraw from important international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, along with his threats to leave the Organization of American States (OAS), prove once again that he is more interested in pursuing ways to destabilize our hemisphere instead of working with other nations to help achieve freedom and stability for all people.

Additionally, by continuing to systematically eliminate freedom and free markets in his country, including his recent takeover of the last remaining privately-operated oil field, Hugo Chavez is again demonstrating that in Venezuela, freedom is on the run, tyranny is on the march and the hopes and dreams millions of his countrymen are vanishing.

Hugo Chavez is a danger to all those who cherish freedom and the United States must not ignore this growing threat in our own backyard.