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‘Corrupt’ Queens Rep. Gregory Meeks represented US at Hugo Chavez’s funeral

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(Reuters)

LEFT SADDENED: The Rev. Jesse Jackson and actor Sean Penn attend the funeral of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez yesterday in Caracas. (
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WASHINGTON — Send in the clowns!

President Obama dispatched embattled Queens Rep. Gregory Meeks to represent the US government yesterday at the funeral of Venezuelan strong man Hugo “El Loco” Chavez.

The Queens Democrat, who has been dogged by corruption allegations, joined a rogues’ gallery that included Iranian madman Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Cuban despot Raul Castro to bid farewell to Chavez, who died Tuesday.

Meeks had ties to the late America-hating leftist leader, allegedly meeting Chavez in 2006 on behalf of one of Meeks’ shady donors, indicted Ponzi crook Allen Stanford.

“Considering Meeks’ problems, perhaps it shows what the US thinks of Chavez,” quipped Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which featured Meeks on its 2011 and 2012 “Most Corrupt” lists.

“Chavez and Meeks had a relationship. He probably deserves Meeks. It’s a good pairing,” said Sloan.

Federal investigators have scrutinized Meeks’ finances, including his dealings with Queens real-estate agent Edul Ahmad, who faces 10 years in jail after pleading guilty to a $50 million mortgage scam.

Meeks said in a statement that he was “honored” to be representing the US at the funeral. “My deepest sympathies go out to the family of President Chavez and the people of Venezuela,” he said.

Meeks wasn’t the only American in attendance at the service in Caracas.

Activist/actor Sean Penn and the Rev. Jesse Jackson paid their respects, although not as members of the official US delegation.

Jackson even had the honor of eulogizing Chavez as part of the ceremony. “How do we measure a great leader? By how they treat the least,” intoned Jackson, echoed by a Spanish interpreter. “Hugo fed the hungry. He lifted the poor. He raised their hopes. He helped them realize their dreams . . . Let there be peace between nations.”

During the service, Penn and Jackson joined other mourners in shouting, “Chavez didn’t die.”

Chavez’s anti-American friends also expressed their loss. “It is a great pain for us because we have lost a friend,” declared Ahmadinejad, who received a standing ovation when he kissed Chavez’s flag-draped coffin.