From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Can the U.S. get out of the green zone?

Hello again, I'm Orman Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International,

a daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

One of the promises of the

President's new way forward is deployment of provincial reconstruction teams to work with local

leaders. On to the point, we'll hear how America's original occupying force walled itself off

from the Iraqi people. Is there still time for a change? Or is the new plan too little, too late?

Also today, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez says he'll nationalize communications, electricity, and oil companies

and turn his country into a socialist state.

Should the U.S. be worried?

Has the war on terror diverted the Bush administration from America's interests in Latin America?

First up, here's the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica and from the Public Radio International Program Fund, whose contributors include the Ford Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur

Foundation. Hello, again, Mormon-Aulney, back with To the Point. The President's new way forward

will not only increase American troops in Iraq, it'll get the civilian reconstruction effort

out of the green zone. On To the Point, is it about time, or too little too late? Also today,

Hugo Chavez claims he'll nationalize major

industries and make Venezuela a socialist state. Can he accomplish his populist goals? Is he a threat

to U.S. interests in Latin America? First this news update, Condoleezza Rice is about to leave for a

high-stakes tour of the Middle East, starting in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

She'll then meet with leaders in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait before winding up in

...