Chavez blasts 'drunkard' Bush
2006-03-20 07:23
Caracas - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday lobbed a litany of insults at
US President George W Bush ranging from "donkey" to
"drunkard" in response to a White House report branding the
left-wing leader a demagogue.
Chavez is one of Bush's fiercest critics and has repeatedly
accused the US government of seeking to oust him from the
presidency of Venezuela, the world's No 5 oil exporter and a
supplier of around 15% of US crude imports.
"You are a donkey, Mr. Bush," said Chavez, speaking in
English on his weekly Sunday broadcast.
"You're an alcoholic Mr Danger, or rather, you're a
drunkard," Chavez said, referring to Bush by a nickname he
frequently uses to describe the US president.
A White House report released last week on pre-emptive
force in national security described Chavez as a "demagogue"
who uses Venezuela's oil wealth to destabilise democracy in the
region.
Washington is increasingly at odds with the former soldier
over his close alliance with Cuba and Iran. US officials
dismiss his anti-US tirades as rhetoric meant to stir
nationalism before presidential elections in December.
Chavez's remarks also came after Venezuela's El Universal
newspaper printed an interview with US ambassador to
Venezuela William Brownfield, who reiterated his government's
concern over growing ties between Venezuela and Iran.
Tensions between the Washington and Caracas rose in January
after Venezuela expelled a US naval attache on espionage
charges and the US state department responded by removing a
top Venezuelan diplomat from Washington.
Chavez was elected in 1998 on an anti-poverty platform, and
has used billions of dollars in oil revenues to finance
development programs for the poor as part of his self-styled
socialist revolution.
He won a overwhelming victory in a recall referendum in
2004, but his critics at home and in Washington say he is
centralizing power in an increasingly authoritarian system and
cracking down on political opponents.
- Reuters