Amid announcements that Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez is seeking indefinite terms for the presidency and thereby further undermining what remains of Venezuelan democracy, comes more moves to shore up support from leftist / anti-American leaders the world over… this time, very close to home, in London.

Chavez has pledged £16 million ($32 million) to London’s mayor Ken Livingstone to subside bus fare for poor Londoners, paid for by Venezuelan oil revenue.  In return, Caracas is seeking help in managing their traffic and urban transport systems from Transport for London.  London was silent on the domestic situation in Venezuela, and on the implications of foreign spending or so called "petro-diplomacy."

This is only the latest in a string of promises, pledges and loans that Chavez has made as part of his aggressive foreign policy.  An interesting graph in the Financial Times shows the total amounts that the government has spent in promoting its policies, and oil, abroad, with the large majority being spent in Latin America (see below).  The total spent is $21.3 billion – more than $20 billion of which has been spent in Latin America and the Caribbean.