The Chavez-Morales-Hu Axis

Evo Morales is no sooner elected president of Bolivia than he's in Beijing, all kissy-face with Hu Jintao, inviting China to develop Bolivia's gas reserves.

The US has been disposed elsewhere, where threats are more real, and the energy-hungry and friend-hungry Chinese are exploiting the matter. Now they're in bed with Hugo Chavez and Morales, and they're managing the ports of Panama and bidding for an air base there. And of course, there's Castro.

How whacked is Morales? Says WashTimes:

Bolivia's left-leaning president-elect ... told Mr. Hu he made visiting China a priority because he considers China to be a "political, ideological and programmatic ally of the Bolivian people. ... I have a new responsibility. It's a new experience for me, so I hope to count on the help of your government and your party,"

China, which just paid $2.3 billion for 45% of a Nigerian oil field, is only too happy to help.

It's time for the Administration to begin pushing back against China's expansion in our hemisphere. This isn't going to be easy, but we need to start making it more and more unlikely that countries like Bolivia will turn to socialists like Morales.

We need to be as interested in the Western Hemisphere as China is.