Here's what Chavez was doing yesterday (when he wasn't threatening to nationalize a steel company):
"Earlier Saturday -- which Chavez noted coincided with Karl Marx's birthday -- the Venezuelan leader drove a red Volkswagen bug to a poor Caracas slum where he officially registered with a movement to create a single, pro-Chavez ruling party: the United Socialist Party of Venezuela.
A close ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, Chavez argues Venezuela needs a single socialist party to rein in political interests and more efficiently lead his movement. Many analysts call it an effort to consolidate party control.
"If any rich person wants to become a member of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, he will be welcome but he must begin by setting aside his wealth to the fight against misery," Chavez said as he repeatedly invoked the communist ideals of Marx and Leon Trotsky.
Chavez also blasted Venezuela's Communist Party and other allies who have resisted joining the single par
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