…general purpose useful idiots, have visited the anti-American despot in Venezuela to fawn over him, praise him and kiss his touchas. Sean Penn, Kevin Spacey, Danny Glover, Naomi Campbell and, famously, the wretched Cindy Sheehan.

Of course, I’m talking about Hugo Chavez, the guy we’ve largely ignored for some time now, who’s been forging all sorts of alliances with communists and Islamofascist terrorist organizations while letting it be known he is an enemy of the United States.

Latin America experts are warning about the growing threat from Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, citing new evidence of Chavez’s expanding ties with Iran and Hezbollah and other terrorist groups.

The Venezuelan president also has demonstrated his willingness to buy elections throughout the hemisphere to empower enemies of the United States, several experts said in presentations Thursday during a conference that the Center for Security Policy sponsored on Capitol Hill.

“Today, Venezuela airports are being freely used by drug cartels to export drugs to Europe and the United States,” said Luis Fleischman, senior adviser for the center’s Menges Hemispheric Security Project. “Chavez has helped the FARC fight against Colombia, [while] Hezbollah cells have increased their fund-raising and other activities in the area.”

What’s more, Fleischman said, “Young Venezuelans are being trained in Hezbollah camps in Lebanon . . . and Venezuela has reportedly produced uranium for Iran.”

Because of the close ties between Chavez and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, “there is a real possibility” that Chavez could get a nuclear weapon from Iran after Iran acquires that capability itself, he said.

But we have nothing to worry about, thanks to President Obama’s outstanding diplomatic applications.

Obama’s “friendly interaction” with Chavez at last year’s Summit of the Americas has only emboldened the Venezuelan strongman in thinking that the United States will do nothing to oppose his regime or his anti-American activities, a panelist said.

Anyhow, read on.