Published on Friday, September 16, 2005 by the Associated Press
*Chavez Takes Bush to Task on World Stage Over War in Iraq*
by Kim Gamel
UNITED NATIONS - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez took President Bush to task
in front of a global summit for waging war in Iraq without U.N. consent and
won rousing applause for his critique.
The leftist leader told a U.N. summit on Thursday that fighting the war
without U.N. authorization showed Washington did not respect the world body.
He recommended moving U.N. headquarters to a country that has more regard for
the organization.
"There were never weapons of mass destruction but Iraq was bombed, and over
U.N. objections, (it was) occupied and continues being occupied," Chavez said.
Bush alleged that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction but none have
been found, shattering one of his main arguments for going to war.
"That's why we propose to this assembly that the United Nations leave this
country, which is not respectful of the very resolutions of this assembly,"
Chavez said.
Chavez, a close ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, suggested moving U.N.
headquarters New York to an international city "outside the sovereignty of any
state" and said some have mentioned Jerusalem as one possibility.
But the Venezuelan leader said the new headquarters has to be in the South,
home to most developing countries.
Bush was not in the audience when Chavez spoke to the world representatives.
But the U.S. president did address the summit's the opening session on
Wednesday morning, then returned to Washington later that day.
World leaders at the summit had been asked to speak for five minutes but
Chavez ran long and when the presiding diplomat passed him a note saying his
time was up, he threw it on the floor. He said if Bush could speak for 20
minutes, so could he.
When he finally stopped, he got what observers said was the loudest applause
of the summit.
Relations between Chavez and Washington have become increasingly strained,
though the United States remains the top buyer of Venezuelan oil.
Chavez repeatedly has accused the U.S. government of backing plots against
him, and recently alleged Washington was preparing to invade his country.
American religious broadcaster Pat Robertson recently suggested the United
States assassinate Chavez because he poses a threat. Chavez responded that
Robertson had clearly "expressed the wish of the elite that govern the United
States." Robertson has since apologized.
U.S. officials strongly deny the Venezuelan leader's claims but have expressed
concerns about the health of the country's democracy under Chavez, who was
first elected in 1998 pledging a social "revolution" for the poor majority.
The two leaders have clashed over a host of other issues as well.
Bush criticized Venezuela's government earlier Thursday, saying the South
American nation had "failed demonstrably" to make a concerted effort to block
shipments of illicit narcotics to the United States and Europe last year.
Venezuela could have been subjected to a cutoff of U.S. assistance, but Bush
decided to waive the provision because of national security interests.
In early August, Chavez accused the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration of
using its agents in Venezuela for espionage, and said Venezuela was suspending
cooperation with the agency. The Bush administration denied the espionage charge.
Chavez, whose country is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, also warned
the world is facing an unprecedented energy crisis.
He told reporters later the crisis will keep growing, "not because we the
producers want it but because we are running out of oil."
Chavez singled out the United States as the most wasteful country, saying he
was shocked when a quarter of all the cars he counted Thursday morning on New
York streets had one person in them.
"That's crazy, one person with a huge car ... that is using up gas and
polluting the atmosphere," he said at a news conference. "The world cannot
tolerate this model of development called the American way of life."
In a form of energy diplomacy, Chavez has extended a preferential oil trade
deal called PetroCaribe to 13 Caribbean countries in what he says is part of a
plan to challenge U.S. economic domination of the region.
Under the plan, Venezuela will soon sell up to 190,000 barrels of fuel a day
to countries from Jamaica to St. Lucia, offering favorable financing while
shipping fuel directly to reduce costs. It is expected to help those countries
save millions of dollars.
Associated Press writer Ian James in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this
report.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press
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