Colonel Benavides, terror of the Venezuelan oppos

Meet my newest hero:

His name is Antonio Benavides Torres, and he is a colonel in the Venezuelan national guard. Chavecito recently awarded him the country’s highest honor–the Medal of the Liberator.

So what did Col. Benavides do to deserve it? Have a look:

What? No battle? No blood? No drama?

That’s right. Col. Benavides kept the public peace. He played the music of Venezuela’s most popular folk singer, the late Alí Primera, to counteract the ugly crap being blasted at the recent oppo demo. And when the oppos tried to provoke the national guard and the metropolitan Caracas police into starting a riot, the colonel wasn’t having any of it. He grabbed a mike and told his troops not to fall into the trap–that this was an oppo strategy to generate violence and try to force the expulsion of President Chávez. When a reporter from oppo channel Globovisión tried to get in his face and provoke a direct confrontation, he headed her off and told her to get back and record her “ambient sound” from a respectful distance. Result: No drama–and no excuse to get rid of the president. And no satisfaction whatsoever for Globoterror’s crew, who went away with their tails between their legs.

Peace, democracy and socialism win again. The End.