Russia's failed war of words in Latin America

There were big headlines about Russia saying it might make use of short-term bases in Cuba and/or Venezuela, with a public statement of support from Hugo Chávez. Very juicy news. As usual, it generated at least one headline with the words "missile crisis" in it.

You don't see a lot of joking in Pentagon press statements, yet the press secretary's main response was, "That would be quite a long way for those old planes to fly."

And then, Chávez denied ever offering a base, but said he just told Medvedev that the planes could land in Venezuela if they needed to.

As posturing goes, this is not a particularly successful effort.