About that whole Canada is better now than four years ago thing, Harper...

This was inevitable.

You have no weight pressuring other governments on respecting democracy when you fail to do it yourself.

The government of Hugo Chavez has responded to Canadian criticism it was "shrinking democratic space" in Venezuela by saying it will take no lessons from an "ultraright" government that "closed" Parliament to avoid an investigation into the handling of Afghan detainees.

Chavez’s government didn’t stop there, either.  It went on to accuse the Harper government of seeking to damage Venezuela itself.

"I am talking of a Canada governed by an ultraright that closed its Parliament for various months to (evade) an investigation over the violation of human rights -- I am talking about torture and assassinations -- by its soldiers in Afghanistan," said Chaderton.

No Canadian has accused our soldiers of torture and assassination.  Accusations from Canadians have been that the elected government knew about, and enabled torture, and that the fault rests with that government’s deliberate cover-up of how they failed to halt the transfer of detainees when they knew they were being handed over to a group that would most likely torture them.

But by riding endlessly on the theme that anyone who seeks an investigation into the transfers is attacking the soldiers, Harper assured the troops would become a target of such attacks.

After a trip to Venezuela, Peter Kent, minister of state for the Americas said Canada was concerned over the Chavez regime's decision to suspend the licences of several cable television stations and over the deaths of two students during protests.

"These events are further evidence of a shrinking democratic space in Venezuela," Kent said in the release. "During my recent visit to Venezuela, I heard many individuals and organizations express concerns related to violations of the right to freedom of expression and other basic liberties."

Uh-huh.

Sort of like this?

By proroguing Parliament to avoid investigations into his own complicity in the Afghan detainee issue, Harper has cost Canada a great deal of credibility and weight in its international efforts toward democratic rights and freedoms.

Bastard.