- CARACAS -- Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez, extending his war of words with Washington, on Thursday called
US President George W Bush "an assassin" and accused the United
States of meddling in his country's affairs.
-
- Chavez said: "The people of the US are governed
by an assassin ... a crazy man! I think the people of the US are more aware
of this situation every day."
-
- Relations between Chavez and Washington had become increasingly
strained, though the US remained the top buyer of Venezuelan oil.
-
- Illegal narcotics
-
- Chavez had repeatedly clashed with the US government
and accused Washington of seeking to oust him - a claim US officials had
denied.
-
- The Bush administration, in turn, had expressed concerns
over the health of Venezuela's democracy and criticised the South American
nation for not doing enough to block shipments of illegal narcotics to
the US and Europe.
-
- During a late-night speech to Venezuelan officials and
Brazilian business leaders at Miraflores Presidential Palace on Thursday,
Chavez praised Americans who stood up to their "imperialist"
government.
-
- 'Aggression against Venezuela'
-
- He said: "Welcome, those who oppose the war and
aggression against Iraq, who oppose the aggression against Venezuela."
-
- Chavez, who had close ties with Cuban leader Fidel Castro,
encouraged leftist governments in Latin American to resist American hegemony
in the region.
-
- He said: "This is a time of resistance ... and you
can be sure, that if we fail, our children and our grandchildren will be
here resisting."
-
- US ambassador William Brownfield said this week that
Venezuelan officials had wrongly accused Washington of a range of conspiracies
ranging from planning alleged assassination plots to causing floods brought
on by global warming.
-
- http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1836589,00.html
|
