* The government of Colombia considers Chavez to be the largest single threat to their own survival and to peace and stability in the Western Hemisphere.

* Chavez continues to use his petro-dollars to purchase billions of dollars worth of armaments from Russia, the People’s Republic of China, and Iran. Armaments well beyond the domestic security needs of his nation.

* A number of officials in our government and others, are worried that in addition to working with the leaders of Iran to bring nuclear power to Venezuela, Chavez is even more interested in working with them to eventually bring nuclear weapons to Venezuela.

* Twice in 1992, while a Lieutenant Colonel, Chavez tried to violently overthrow the constitutionally elected government of then Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez. The estimate of the innocent civilians and soldiers killed in the failed coups, run from the hundreds to the thousands.

The list goes on and on, but there can be no doubt that Hugo Chavez represents a true and growing threat to our national security. A threat that includes the overt and covert support of Islamist terrorists intent on our total destruction.

Clearly, Rudolph Giuliani is a man of great principles and honor. He once rejected a $10 million contribution for post 9/11 disaster relief from a Saudi prince. That act makes it even more puzzling to understand why he continued a business relationship with an anti-American company controlled by a megalomaniac bent on regional and even world domination, until just last month.

Did he sever his relationship with Citgo for moral reasons, or because the blood money he was getting from Chavez was becoming a liability on the campaign trail? A clear answer is still wanted by the voters.