Comments about Chávez at the OAS

News reports have tended to play up the idea that the U.S. “blasted” Chávez at the recent OAS meeting. I read over Robert Zoellick’s remarks, and found them quite mild. There were two oblique references to Chávez:

“The pied pipers of populism will only lead people backwards, while globalization and the rest of the world looks ahead.” (Who writes these speeches?)

“In Peru, the elected government has had to complain at the Permanent Council of the OAS about foreign inteference. We should stand with democratic governments who point to this danger.”

These comments are certainly critical, but hardly constitute a verbal assault.