Hugo Chavez picks the wrong side

I'm not one of those who has ever bought into most of the rhetoric directed at Venezuela and it's fiery President. Yes, Chavez engages in some fiery rhetoric himself, has some disturbingly authoritarian tendencies and promotes a dangerous cult of personality. On the other hand he's won multiple elections and accepted the will of the public when they've voted against him - on re-writing the constitution for example, he has the majority of the population behind him and I agree with a lot - by no means all - of his actual economic policies.

But then he goes and sides with a regime of murderous thugs:

As voting began in Iran on June 12, Chavez praised Ahmadinejad as "a courageous fighter for the Islamic Revolution, the defense of the Third World, and in the struggle against imperialism."

Nine days later, with a bloody crackdown on Iranian protesters gaining momentum, Chavez declared that "Ahmadinejad's triumph was a triumph all the way." The Venezuelan president condemned those "trying to stain Ahmadinejad's triumph and through that weaken the government and the Islamic revolution."