Rice "fired her unworthy artillery against our people," Chavez

CARACAS, January 11 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Saturday, January 10, launched a bitter verbal attack on U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, branding her as a "true illiterate" for accusing him of not playing a constructive role in Latin America.

Chavez said he asked Cuban leader Fidel Castro to mail to Rice samples of books that Venezuela is using, with Cuban support, for literacy education, to "see if she learns to respect the dignity of the people and learns a bit about us," reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Speaking at an official event in Caracas, Chavez said that Rice "fired her unworthy artillery against our people" by saying that he should not oppose the referendum that seeks to oust him from power.

In Washington Friday, January 9, Rice said that "there are roles that Venezuela has played that have not been very helpful."

Rice cited tensions between Venezuela and neighboring Colombia as well as Chavez's good relations with Castro, who has outlasted successive U.S. Presidents for four decades.

"It is beyond me to understand why anybody who believes in democracy or wants people to believe that they believe in democracy would want to have anything in that regard to do with Fidel Castro, because that's the one truly undemocratic regime in the region," Rice said.

She also called on Chavez to abandon what she said were ‘efforts to block a vote on cutting short his term’.

"The best thing that President Chavez could do at this point is to demonstrate that he believes in a democratic future for Venezuela by carrying out the wishes of his people in this regard," said Rice.

Chavez hit back by wondering why Rice has not shown concern about the ‘disputed electoral process’ that took U.S. President George W. (Bush) to the White House.

“What has she got to do with polls? This is something related only to us Venezuelans”.

The war of words come as the two countries leaders are to fly into Mexico Monday, January 12, to participate in the Summit of the Americas, expected to witness wide range differences between Washington on one hand and Latin American states on the other.

Washington, for its part, wants to impose its own agenda of ‘fighting terror and free trade’, whereas other American states – whose population mostly live in poverty - are much more worried about social problems that undercut their stability.

After five years in office, Chavez, a 49-year-old former lieutenant colonel, has faced down general strikes - one in 2001, and the other between late 2002 and early 2003.

In mid-April, 2002, Chavez survived a 47-hour civilian-military coup that Washington did not condemn amid reports of complicity.

The moment Chavez was elected President for Venezuela, he was keen on keeping good relations with developing countries, and he shrugged off America’s criticism. Thus, he insisted on visiting Iraq in 2000 to prepare for the OPEC Summit. 

Chavez’ constant opposition to the American policy was the reason behind observers and analysts describing him as a “pain in Washington’s neck”.