politics

Reaction to Robertson's Comments on Chavez

By Dale Hurd
CBN News Sr. Reporter

CBN.com – (CBN News) - It seems that the whole world is talking about Pat Robertson’s comment that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez should be done away with.

That reaction followed a CBN News investigation into the potential danger from the South American dictator. CBN News now looks at the response, ranging from the Venezuelan government to its chief ally, Fidel Castro.

This has now become a top subject in the American mainstream.

After the comments made about Chávez on this program, the Venezuelan Ambassador to Washington, Bernardo Alverez, said, "It is essential that the U.S. government guarantee (Chávez') safety when he visits (the United States) in the future. We are concerned about the safety of our president."

Chávez, who was in Cuba at the time, responded by saying he preferred to "talk about life." But Castro, referring to comments made on this program, said, "Only God can punish crimes of such magnitude. I always say that God helps Chávez and his friends."

While in Cuba, where he is galvanizing his anti-American alliance with Castro, Chávez launched a fresh round of anti-American attacks, calling U.S. imperialism "the grand destroyer of the world, and the greatest threat…"

He called President Bush the "lord of war," and vowed to come to Cuba's defense if the U.S. ever attacked the island. But that might be considered mild rhetoric for Chávez, who in past speeches has called Bush obscene names, and made sexually suggestive comments about Condoleezza Rice.

Only recently has Washington seemed to care about Chávez, despite the fact that Chávez has courted almost every adversary of the United States, from Saddam Hussein to Iran. Chávez also stands accused of helping the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia) narco-terrorists, and was embarrassed a few months ago when Colombian bounty hunters nabbed a FARC official living near Caracas, apparently under government protection.

Chávez once wrote a fan letter to the Venezuelan-born terrorist Carlos the Jackal, that began with the words "distinguished compatriot." Chávez later gave the brother of the terrorist a job in his oil ministry.

And Chávez was a student of a noted Argentine neo-fascist and holocaust-denier named Norberto Ceresole. While anti-Semitism does not seem to be widespread in Venezuela, the government sometimes blames Venezuela's troubles on Jews and Israeli intelligence.

A former aide to Chávez once claimed that he was instructed to deliver $1 million to al-Qaeda after 9-11. The Venezuelan government said the money was given to the UN for Afghan refugees.

But most troubling to some is Chávez' announced intention to develop a nuclear program with the help of Iran. Washington's strategy has seemed to be one of containment. But Chávez has begun trying to use Venezuela's oil wealth to replace U.S. influence in Latin America.

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