"U.S. Criticism of Chávez Unfounded"

The recent round of Venezuela-bashing from the U.S. State Department and Washington-based foreign-policy organizations is symptomatic of a broader problem. And it's not Venezuela's problem; it's ours.

Last week, Venezuela decided, after a vote of its General Assembly and the approval of the executive, to add 12 new justices to its 20-member Supreme Court. Human Rights Watch denounced the move as a "severe blow to judicial independence."

That is a gross exaggeration. Imagine, if you can, that a group of military officers in the United States overthrew our president, dissolved Congress and the Supreme Court and abolished the Constitution. Now imagine that democracy is restored, but the Supreme Court rules that the officers who kidnapped the president and overthrew the government cannot be tried for any crime. That is what happened in Venezuela.

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