I wonder what his adoring Hollywood fans — Kevin Spacey, Sean Penn, Oliver Stone, Naomi Campbell, et al. — will think of the latest about Hugo Chávez:

President Hugo Chavez says he wants Venezuelans to stop drinking so much alcohol, and he has ordered the military to crack down on businesses selling beer on the streets or after legal hours.
Chavez said his government is considering raising taxes on alcohol and cigarettes. Venezuelans’ taste for beer and Scotch whisky is an irritation to the leftist president, and he raised liquor and cigarette taxes three years ago while calling for similar measures — to little effect.

Who does Chávez think he is? Carrie Nation? This ought to strike his Hollywood-type admirers as seriously uncool. But, just as a gulag could not shake Castro-love, nothing will shake Chávez-love, among the truly committed.