A website called ‘Venezuela Solidarity’ has started a campaign that aims to bring Bono into the debate about video games – and the game in question is Mercenaries 2: World in Flames.

Just to remind you about the game, “Mercenaries 2: World in Flames is an explosive open-world action game set in a massive, highly reactive, war-torn world. A power-hungry tyrant messes with Venezuela's oil supply, sparking an invasion that turns the country into a warzone.”^†

Just to remind you about the country, “Democratically elected governments have held sway since 1959. Hugo Chavez, president since 1999, has promoted a controversial policy of "democratic socialism," which purports to alleviate social ills while at the same time attacking globalization and undermining regional stability. Current concerns include: a weakening of democratic institutions, political polarization, a politicized military, drug-related violence along the Colombian border, increasing internal drug consumption, overdependence on the petroleum industry with its price fluctuations, and irresponsible mining operations that are endangering the rain forest and indigenous peoples.” ^††

Just to remind you, Bono is a singer with a rock’n’pop band named after a US spy plane that crashed the Soviet Union. He also owns an investment company

OK, so now you’ve got the background – you probably realise that Hugo Chavez must be the ‘power-hungry tyrant’ who is just asking for his country to be invaded by, well, let's hazard a guess at the United States.

But why (aside from his history of standing quite tall against world poverty) is the campaign calling on an Irish singer to stop a game about a South American country?

Well, the investment company owned by Bono, Elevation Partners has apparently invested several hundred-million dollars in Pandemic Studios, the developers of the game – according to the Venezuelan Solidarity website, this amounts to $300-million (£152-million).

So, could Pandemic be in the thrall of the CIA? Is Hugo Chavez a Nintendo fanboy? SPOnG is looking more deeply into the story and will return with further comment!

Mercenaries 2: World in Flames will be published by Electronic Arts and is available on Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and PC.

<sup>† Source: Mercenaries 2 website

†† Source: CIA World Fact Book.</sup>