Joe Kennedy's 'Shameless Support' of Hugo Chavez

One of Congress's most outspoken critics of Venezuela President Hugo Chavez Monday called on former Massachusetts lawmaker Joe Kennedy to stop airing television advertisements that give "shameless support" to "the most dangerous man in the Western Hemisphere."

Calling Chavez "a sworn enemy of the United States," Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fla., wrote in a letter to Kennedy that "there is absolutely no excuse for you to be praising him in television commercials and media interviews for any reason whatsoever."

"More than 40 years ago, your uncle - President John F. Kennedy — spoke about the perils of communism in the Western Hemisphere and the threats posed by Fidel Castro, saying: 'We and our Latin friends will have to face the fact that we cannot postpone any longer the real issue of survival of freedom in this hemisphere itself,'" Mack noted.

"Those words still ring true today," he added.