The autocrats that stick together, stick together

AP:

Fidel Castro said Tuesday that unrest in Libya may be a pretext for a NATO invasion. Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega has jumped to the support of the embattled leader of the North African nation, saying he telephoned to express solidarity.

The protests sweeping across Libya have created challenges for the Latin American allies of Moammar Gadhafi.

Leftist governments in the Americas have long embraced him as a fellow fighter against U.S. influence in the world. Gadhafi has responded over the years by awarding the Moammar Gadhafi International Human Rights Prize to Castro and Ortega, as well as to Presidents Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Evo Morales of Bolivia.

Not that Castro doesn't have a point that the U.S. does not have clean hands in Latin America or the Middle East. The U.S. has supported many dictators when their foreign policy is more likely to serve U.S. interests. At the same time, the U.S. has also at time made dictators who masquerade as the people's choice uncomfortable.