Chavez denounces Catholic cardinal (Reuters/CNN)

[Evangel]

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accused a Roman Catholic cardinal Sunday of conspiring against him after the clergyman chastised the leftist leader for eroding democracy and abusing his power.

The exchange was the latest sign of tense relations between the country’s Catholic church hierarchy and Chavez, an ally of Cuba who has vowed to introduce a socialist revolution to fight poverty in the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter.

“This is part of a provocation, part of a conspiracy, there is nothing innocent about this. It is a plot to destabilize the country,” Chavez said on his weekly Sunday broadcast.

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Full article

 

[Fitz]

So the Catholic cardinal does not support Belafonte, or Jesse Jackson’s admiration for the leader? This does not surprise me. Does it surprise any of you?

 

[bones_IV]

Fitz:

So the Catholic cardinal does not support Belafonte, or Jesse Jackson’s admiration for the leader? This does not surprise me. Does it surprise any of you?

Are you here to tell me that with the anti-Semitic remarks that Chavez makes Jesse Jackson supports this guy?! That bastard. He disgraces the black communities.

 

[JimG]

Hugo Chavez, Man of the Year?

It is no longer a secret that TIME magazine chose Bill Gates, Melinda Gates and Bono as their people of the year, 2005. But probably relatively few will be aware that a magazine published in Colombia, SEMANA, has named Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, as their man of the year.
(Complete article by Charls Hardy at: cowboyincaracas.com/article.php?story=20060108204354776)

Despite his socialist agenda, Hugo Chavez remains a quite popular figure in Venezuela and throughout Latin America. Understanding why this is so may help the U.S. to do something right in that region.

There is also a rather enlightening article in the January 2006 issue of Smithsonian magazine: “Venezuela Steers a New Course.”