Hugo Chavez told a cheering crowd he never doubted he'd return to Venezuela's Presidential Palace. He just didn't expect it so soon. Caracas is still uneasy after a failed weekend coup, the return of Chavez and continuing economic stress that led to trouble in the first place.
Now, there's growing unease with Washington, after the White House at first winked, eschewing what's been near-universal condemnation of the take-over, only to later pooh-pooh the coup. We know the roots of the contrarian view.
Chavez is simpatico with the likes of Saddam Hussein, Qaddaffi and Castro. Now that he's back, he's declaring an era of love, not hate and promising no recriminations - but America's relationship with Venezuela needs work.
