Chavez flays Catholic leaders
2007-10-22 15:59
Caracas - Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez slammed the nation's Roman Catholic Church leadership as
"morally unacceptable" late on Sunday for criticizing his
proposal to rewrite the constitution to scrap term limits.
Chavez's reform plan, which voters are expected to approve
in a December referendum, also includes allowing security
forces to detain citizens without charge during political
"emergencies" or major natural disasters.
Church leaders on Friday issued a strongly-worded statement
accusing Chavez of seeking to concentrate power with an
"authoritarian" proposal to overhaul the OPEC nation's
constitution that he helped rewrite in 1999.
Bishops 'make us ashamed'
"They say the reform is morally unacceptable - they are
morally unacceptable," Chavez said in a government press
release sent out on Sunday night. "Those bishops that we have
make us ashamed."
Polls show Chavez will likely win the referendum because
the proposal also includes popular moves such as shortening the
workday and extending social security benefits to street
vendors as part of a drive to build a socialist state.
The Church is one of the few respected, independent
institutions in Venezuela and has repeatedly criticized his
leftist policies and called on him to tone down his often
aggressive rhetoric since he took power in 1999.
In response, Chavez, who remains popular due to his
spending of oil income on the poor, portrays them as elitists
who backed a failed coup against him in 2002.
Venezuelans are overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, but generally
practice their faith less than their counterparts in other
Latin American countries such as Mexico or Brazil.