Commercial aircraft crashes in Venezuela, 152 dead. How long before Hugo Chavez tries to politicize this? Prepare for any of these explanatory templates from Hugo Chavez sometime this week. That’s the kind of atmosphere Hugo Chavez has created for Venezuela. He’ll do it to whip up popular support, given his abysmal showing (last figure: 9% voted for Chavez’s MVR party) in this month’s municipal elections. Here are some likely possibilities:

1. What a coincidence – three planes crashed in this month – Canada, Greece and Venezuela. The gringos obviously bombed this, planes don’t crash that often on their own.

2. Posada Carriles – proof that Americans crash a lot of planes around Venezuela.

3. This plane went down in FARC territory – must be trying to send a message to Chavez about the FARC. iLa lucha continua!

4. The Americans offered aid. We wouldn’t take it. We would never take it! Dirty American aid! No doubt a front for spying and no doubt this crash was planned this way. We can take care of this, Mister Danger, on our own.

5. The Americans didn’t offer aid. Stingy Americans. We had counted on a big pot for reconstruction. They wouldn’t give it. They also have an annoying habit of keeping accounting books.

6. Petrocaribe. It was a plane bound for Martinque from Panama that went down. There was a big summit in Panama and a big summit among the Caribbean states over oil. Coincidence? We don’t think so.

7. It’s Bush’s fault.