http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/08/23/robertson.chavez/index.html
U.S. dismisses Chavez assassination call
Venezuela VP calls for U.S. to act on Robertson's 'criminal' remark
Tuesday, August 23, 2005; Posted: 8:16 p.m. EDT (00:16 GMT)
Robertson, shown here in a file photo, said Venezuela's Chavez "is a
dangerous enemy."
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Bush administration officials Tuesday disavowed Christian
broadcaster Pat Robertson's call for the assassination of Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez.
Venezuela's Vice President Vicente Rangel accused Robertson of inciting
violence and challenged the White House to take action against Robertson.
"What is the U.S. government going to do about this criminal statement made by
one of its citizens?" he asked.
Robertson told viewers of his longtime show, "The 700 Club," on Monday that
Chavez was turning his oil-rich South American country into "a launching pad
for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism all over the continent." (Full
story)
"If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think we really ought to go
ahead and do it," said Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition.
"It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war, and I don't think any oil
shipments will stop. This man is a terrific danger, and this is in our sphere
of influence." (Watch video of Robertson's comments)
Robertson -- who has a history of stirring controversy with remarks on subjects
from Islam to the Supreme Court -- did not explain how Venezuela was to be used
by Muslim extremists. The U.S. State Department Web site says 98 percent of the
population are Roman Catholic or protestant.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Tuesday that Robertson has the
right of any private citizen to say whatever he wants, but added that the
televangelist's remarks "do not represent the views of the United States."
"His comments are inappropriate and, as we have said before, any allegations
that we are planning to take hostile action against the Venezuelan government
are completely baseless and without fact," McCormack said.
But Venezuela's ambassador to the United States, Bernardo Alvarez, said
Robertson was "no ordinary private citizen" and demanded the White House
strongly condemn the remarks.
Alvarez said the Christian Coalition, which Robertson no longer leads, claims
some 2 million members and helped jump-start President Bush's 2000 presidential
campaign after his New Hampshire primary loss to Arizona Sen. John McCain.
"Robertson has been one of this president's staunchest allies," he said.
"The United States might not permit its citizens to use its territory and
airwaves to incite terrorists abroad and the murder of a democratically elected
president," Alvarez said. "Venezuela demands that the U.S. abide by
international and domestic law and respect its country and our president."
Venezuela's vice president said the U.S. response "challenges the antiterrorist
ideology of the American government."
"What are the American authorities going to do? The ball is in their court,"
Rangel said.
And former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, who ran against Robertson for the
GOP presidential nomination in 1988, called the comments "stupid" and
"ludicrous" and suggested Robertson apologize "very quickly."
Ties to Cuba
Chavez has built extensive ties to Cuba since he was elected in 1998 and has
become a close friend of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, selling oil to the
communist island at preferential rates.
This week, Chavez visited Cuba, where Castro appeared on his weekly television
call-in show.
Chavez said Tuesday he was unimpressed and unconcerned by Robertson's comments.
The colorful former Venezuelan army officer, who once led a coup attempt
himself, has the widespread support of his country's poor.
His opponents, largely drawn from the country's middle and upper classes,
accuse him of undermining democratic institutions.
Chavez was re-elected under a new constitution in 2000. In 2004, he won a
recall referendum with the support of 58 percent of voters.
But he has become an increasingly outspoken critic of the United States, which
he accuses of having been behind a 2002 coup attempt that forced him from
office for two days.
The Bush administration denied involvement in the coup attempt, but refused to
condemn it.
Executive orders issued by presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan banned
political assassinations.
Chavez has also said the United States has tried to stir opposition to his
government, and he warned this month that U.S. troops would be "soundly
defeated" if Washington were to invade Venezuela. (Full story)
Administration officials have been sharply critical of Venezuela, the
fourth-largest supplier of oil to the United States.
During her confirmation hearings, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice singled
out Venezuela as a "negative force" in the region, and Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld has suggested Venezuela has interfered with the internal affairs of
other countries in the region.
Rumsfeld also dismissed Robertson's comments Tuesday, telling reporters at the
Pentagon that "our department doesn't do that kind of thing."
Last week, the head of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee asked Rumsfeld to
tone down his anti-Chavez rhetoric, warning that the United States needed
Venezuelan help to battle the drug trade.
The concern of Sen. Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, stemmed from
remarks Rumsfeld made during a trip to the region, when he said Venezuela and
Cuba had been involved in Bolivian affairs "in unhelpful ways."
Venezuela has accused agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency of spying on
the Chavez government. The Bush administration denies those allegations as well
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