Hot Tamales

CARACAS, Venezuela Nov 2, 2006 (AP)— Flush with oil profits, President Hugo Chavez handed public workers $3 billion in Christmas bonuses 1 1/2 months early, angering opposition leaders who called it part of a cynical pattern of public handouts ahead of a December presidential election.

The "spending spree" includes free train rides, a rock concert, and a propaganda machine that painted pro-Chavez slogans on buses and handed out T-shirts with the image of the former paratrooper, known affectionately as "El Comandante.

Chavez uplifting ... his peoples.