To paraphrase the inimitable Yogi Berra, it was déjà vu all over again.  The recent Bush stop in Argentina and controversy surrounding Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez harkens back to a turbulent trip to Caracas in 1958 by then Vice-President Richard M. Nixon.  

After a hostile demonstration in which Nixon was spat upon former Costa Rican President Jose "Pepe" Figueres was asked why certain Venezuelans had seen fit to spit on the Vice-President of the United States.  "It's simple," Figueres was quoted as replying.  "You can't spit on a foreign policy."

The Nixon visit followed a series of events that left Venezuelans spitting mad.  The Eisenhower Administration had supported a brutal military dictator, Marcos Perez Jimenez, on whom the Pentagon bestowed the U.S. Legion of Merit.  The support was directly related to the bullish support American steel and oil interests received.  By New Year's Day of 1958 Venezuelans had enough and launched a revolt that removed the dictator from power.

Regrettably what followed was far from halcyon bliss.  An unpopular junta controlled by Pedro Estrada, the National Security Police Chief, assumed power.  Amid continuing discontent it was learned that the American Ambassador to Turkey, who had been assigned previously to Venezuela, sent a Christmas card to Estrada exhorting him to "keep up the good work."