Have you seen the Venezuelan movie, Secuestro Express? It’s my favorite current movie. It’s also the most popular Venezuelan movie in history. The only other Venezuelan movie I have seen is Manuela Saenz, and that was weakly done. Secuestro Express is in a league with the best Mexican and Colombian movies, a real chair-gripping suspense and drama. I was screaming by the end of it.

It documents a quick and dirty kidnapping of two rich young people – one callow, one not – by a gang of at least four thugs from the slums, one of whom has a glint of humanity, and the remainder of whom are very scary.

It explores their interaction, and makes it clear that Chavistadom is based on class hatred, and class hatred is what’s tearing Venezuela apart. As you might imagine, the government absolutely hates this movie, even though it is not political – it’s about thugs.

Chavez of course is a thug, so it goes to show you that politics and thuggery are the same thing in Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela now.

Gene at Harry’s Place has a first-rate writeup of the whole thing here.