Insecure, Narcissistic and Petulant - How Washington Sees Chávez

The language could be from a Vanity Fair profile of any number of highly strung celebrities. The subject is described as insecure, malignantly narcissistic and driven by a need for adulation. Behind the public displays of arrogance and petulance lurks a fear of not being liked.

Barbara Streisand? Paris Hilton? Step forward Hugo Chávez, the president of Venezuela, as depicted in a psychological profile commissioned by the US air force.

According to this analysis, the regional rivalry between Washington and Caracas is less about oil, geopolitics and ideology and more about Mr Chávez's desire to feel good about himself.

"The arrogant certainty conveyed in his public pronouncements is very appealing to his followers. But under this grandiose facade, as is typical with narcissistic personalities, is extreme insecurity," wrote Dr Jerrold Post, the director of the Political Psychology program at George Washington University and a veteran CIA analyst.

Mr Chávez's supporters would say the arrogant certainty of the profile is very appealing to Washington given its extreme hostility to an elected leader who has challenged US power and championed socialist causes across Latin America.

The profile, titled The Chávez Phenomenon, said the personality traits it identified were likely to compel Mr Chávez to declare himself president for life.

"He views himself as a savior, as the very embodiment of Venezuela," Dr Post told Reuters news agency. "He has been acting increasingly messianic and so he is likely to either get the constitution rewritten to allow for additional terms or eventually declare himself president-for-life."

Mr Chávez, who this evening started a six-day tour of Russian, Belarus and Iran, recently accused the US of waging an economic and psychological war against him.