Hurricane Hugo and Typhoon Mahmoud

As Nasrin Alavi has pointed out, as far back as 2003 Ahmadinejad shared a similar political discourse to Chávez, claiming that:

… he would bring “oil money to people's tables” and “cut off the hands of the mafias” that controlled the industry. With promises of food and housing subsidies, he tapped into Iran's vein of popular anger against corruption and cronyism, appealing to thousands of jobless youth and underpaid workers.

But other than having a common international foe in Washington and a penchant for flamboyant political rhetoric, Chávez and Ahmadinejad have little in common. Alavi writes:

Since his election, labour disputes and protests have been on the rise, with both unemployment and inflation surging. Iran has seen massive protests by teachers' unions outside the Iranian Parliament. As recently as March, security forces arrested at least 1000 striking teachers after demonstrations in favour of raising their wages drew up to 10,000 protesters, many of whom waved banners denouncing Ahmadinejad. Many prominent union leaders, whom the President championed not so long ago, were among the detained.

Last year, according to Amnesty International's 2007 Report, thousands of people were arrested in Iran following demonstrations. The report states:

Human rights defenders, including journalists, students and lawyers, were among those detained arbitrarily without access to family or legal representation. Torture, especially during periods of pre-trial detention, remained commonplace. At least 177 people were executed, at least four of whom were under 18 at the time of the alleged offence, including one who was under 18 at the time of execution. Two people were reportedly stoned to death. Sentences of flogging, amputation and eye-gouging continued to be passed. The true numbers of those executed or subjected to corporal punishment were probably considerably higher than those reported.

Although it might be natural for Venezuela, as a member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, to have political and trade relations with another OPEC country like Iran, awarding Ahmadinejad the Collar of the Order of the Liberator - Venezuela's highest honour for visiting dignitaries - as Chávez did in September last year, is not only embarrassing, it is shameful.

Last year, groups on the Iranian Left - like the Iranian Revolutionary Socialists League (IRSL) - criticised the Chávez-Ahmadinejad relationship as one that would "boost the [Iranian] regime and weaken the mass movements in Iran - particularly the struggles of workers for their basic trade union rights".

Even if Chávez feels Iran needs strong diplomatic support to stave off a possible US attack, the collateral damage from such moves is extensive - not least for those on the Left who would prefer to support Chávez more.

And on December 2, international attention will again shift to Caracas as Chávez takes to a referendum 69 proposed changes to the Venezuelan Constitution. The changes, according to Sujatha Fernández, include:

… an increase in the presidential term from six to seven years and a removal of the two-term limit, a shortening of the work week to 36 hours, the suppression of the right to information during national emergencies, the elimination of the autonomy of the central bank, increased funding for communal councils, the creation of new forms of collective property, the requirement of gender parity in positions of public office and the recognition of Afro-Venezuelan groups (in addition to Indigenous groups included in the previous reforms).

It's never straightforward with Chávez. Increased funding and power for Venezuela's community councils will certainly result in greater citizen empowerment and yet, paradoxically, other constitutional changes will centralise more powers in Chávez's hands.

In much of the mainstream media, the move to unrestricted presidential terms will be presented as confirming Chávez's slide towards a dictatorship, even if, unrestricted terms in the highest office exist in countries like France and Australia.

For Venezuela's hard-core supporters in the international Left however, the singing President can do no wrong. The words “contradictions” and “inconsistencies” are not a part of their vocabulary.