[Mb-civic] Anti-Bush, And Mincing No Words (Hugo Chavez Interview) - Lally Weymouth - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

Anti-Bush, And Mincing No Words


Sunday, September 25, 2005; Page B01
Lally Weymouth, Washington Post Staff Writer

Controversy and intrigue have swirled around Venezuela's Hugo Chavez 
ever since he was elected president seven years ago and established 
himself as a leftist force. Chavez's rising influence in Latin American 
politics, his country's role as a major supplier of crude oil for U.S. 
refiners and his close ties to Cuba's Fidel Castro have alarmed 
policymakers in the Bush administration. Last month, on his television 
show, the Rev. Pat Robertson actually went so far as to suggest the 
United States should assassinate the 51-year-old Chavez. (Robertson 
later apologized.)

While Chavez was in New York last week for the gathering of world 
leaders at the United Nations, he sat down with Newsweek-Washington 
Post's Lally Weymouth. He spelled his dislike for the Bush 
administration and described himself as a revolutionary. Dressed in a 
bright red shirt, he noted that he was planning to stop in Havana on his 
way home so that he could spend several hours talking with Castro.

Excerpts:

The opposition in Venezuela feels that it has no space. The leaders of 
Sumate [a group that supported a referendum vote on Chavez two years 
ago] say you indicted them for receiving money from the U.S. National 
Endowment for Democracy. Why?

You cannot forget that this very opposition governed Venezuela between 
1958 and 1998. If they feel like they have no space, it is because they 
have been cooked in their own sauce. Between 1958 and 1998, Venezuela 
fell apart. We ended the 20th century with poverty as we have never seen 
it. The economy was totally destroyed. . . . Millions of Venezuelans 
were without education, health care, jobs, housing. So if they feel they 
do not have any room to act, it's their own fault.

But they have many rights: the right to demonstrate, the right to 
participate in elections. The opposition is utterly divided. The 
revolutionary forces are totally united. Recently, we had elections. We 
won 90 percent.

You have said that the U.S. is the most evil country in the world and 
you have called it a terrorist state. Do you want to have relations with 
the U.S.?

Of course. Indeed, we have relations and want to improve them.

Why did you call the United States a terrorist state?

The country is one thing -- we have lovely relations with the people -- 
like in the Bronx [where Chavez paid a visit]. We have economic 
relations. We have a company [Citgo, owned by the Venezuelan state oil 
company] that refines 800,000 barrels of oil [daily] . . . We have 
14,000 gas stations in this country. We have sent Major League Baseball 
players here. We have many ties between Venezuela and the United States 
-- economic and social.

What I said is that this U.S. administration -- the current government 
-- is a terrorist administration, not all U.S. governments. I 
entertained the best of relations with the Clinton administration, and I 
consider myself a good friend of former President Carter.

So what's wrong with President Bush?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/24/AR2005092400016.html
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