Hugo Chávez, the Venezuelan strongman, has been in the international news rather a lot lately — thanks to the American president’s visible, delighted bonding with him. I am reminded of something that John Negroponte, the veteran diplomat, told me in a recent interview. He said, “I think one of the great things [George W. Bush] did was not give Hugo Chávez the satisfaction of reacting to his various provocations. My sense is that that bothered Chávez. I don’t think Mr. Bush ever mentioned his name, frankly.”
Interesting. (For my five-part interview with Negroponte, consult this archive: March 24 through March 30.)