Hugo Chavez takes to Twitter

Hugo Chavez is starting to use Twitter to counter his opponents online, forcing a president who often talks for hours to sum up each thought in 140 characters.
Chavez urged Venezuelans to watch his newly created account -- chavezcandanga -- after midnight on Tuesday when he planned to start tweeting. ``At that point is when I let loose,'' he said on Tuesday.
A close aide to Chavez, Public Works Minister Diosdado Cabello, announced the Twitter account was set up for the president. Chavez said he has a team working on it.
By late Tuesday, the socialist leader had more than 18,000 followers before posting a single tweet.
Chavez, who has recently seen his popularity slip amid a recession and soaring inflation, has often been outmaneuvered by opponents who are more active on the Web than his supporters.
Cabello said on Monday that Chavez's supporters plan to ``take over by assault'' social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.