Periscope

WORLD BUZZ

By A. L. Bardach

ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN: As the Venezuelan meltdown continues, each day in Caracas unfolds like an episode in a telenovela with an increasingly bizarre cast of characters. Embattled President Hugo Chavez has grown more eccentric and erratic, according to several former close friends. "He sleeps four hours a day and spends half his time with Dr. Chang," his personal Chinese acupuncturist, one former Chavista noted recently. "He never goes out without his Cuban security detail--and usually brings Dr. Chang along." Worse, Chavez's ties with Fidel Castro have deepened along with his woes, complains another former ally. "Chavez picked up Fidel in Havana in his jet en route to Lula's inauguration," he says of the new Brazilian president, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, "just so they could spend even more time together. That's when they cooked up their Axis of Good routine." And when he's not chatting it up with Castro? "He's consulting with his babalaos [Santeria priests], whom he flies in from Havana," says the ex-Chavista. Of course, the opposition have their own babalaos, and Chavez fans accuse his opponents of selfishly hijacking the country with a national strike.

Chavez seems intent on demonstrating the perks of power. According to reports, "he kept Lula waiting an hour [in Brazil] because he overslept," says Ana Julia Jatar, a Venezuelan scholar at Harvard. Nobelist Jimmy Carter, seeking to negotiate a resolution to the crisis, also got the two-step recently. After his four-hour meeting with Chavez, he looked forward to a scheduled dinner that night. But an hour before their 8:30 appointment, Chavez called to cancel. An unflappable diplomat and optimist, Carter declined to comment on the supper snub.