Many Americans believe the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez crossed the line when before the UN General Assembly he referred to the US president as “the Devil”, while pretending to catch a whiff of sulfur. Even Democrats who are no friend of George W. Bush are up in arms, and understandably so when they feel the office of president has come under attack on their own soil.
Rep. Charles Rangel, a Democratic, lashed out saying, “You don’t come to my country. You don’t come to my congressional district and you don’t condemn my president. If there is any criticism of President Bush it should be restricted to Americans whether we voted for him or not.”
Rangel is, however, wrong to say only Americans should be allowed to criticize Bush since as America’s commander in chief he is responsible for pre-emptive wars that have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands as well as the CIA rendition’s program involving the kidnap and torture of foreigners.
If Bush can send his air force and armies to do their worst in foreign climes, then his victims or potential victims can hardly be expected to remain silent. This is not to say there isn’t an argument for saying the UN is hardly the correct forum for such theatrics.
There is also another point of view that should be considered.
Judging by the five minutes’ standing ovation that the Venezuelan leader’s speech elicited (cut from the official UN video), Chavez was merely reflecting a general anti-American trend within the body of nations.
Moreover as Chavez was later to point out, Bush administration officials have been equally caustic in their descriptions of him. Donald Rumsfeld, the US secretary of defense has compared Chavez to Hitler for instance.
The fiery Venezuelan has long contended the US plans to invade his country so as to oust him from office and was behind a failed coup. And now he claims he is a marked man for the Devil comment, saying, “Some worried friends over there (the US) have called me to say that because I called him the Devil they have condemned me to death.”
The Bush administration’s official response to Chavez’ rhetoric has been low key with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice saying the Venezuelan’s comments were not becoming of a head of state.
In truth, there is little doubt that the United States government is worried. It spokespeople may attempt to dismiss Hugo Chavez as a harmless annoyance barking at their heels but first, he is practically on their own doorstep.
Second, he has shown himself to be even more vehemently anti-American than President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad of Iran, America’s No. 1 adversary.
Third, his country’s coffers are overflowing with oil revenue.
Fourth, he is out to cement military and economic relations with anyone who has a grudge against the Bush clan and with other oil-producing nations.
And last but certainly not least, Chavez is considering taking the rocky path to nuclear energy.
It’s also interesting to note that the book “Hegemony or Survival” by the arch leftist intellectual Naom Chomsky — strongly endorsed by Chavez at the beginning of his now infamous speech — has shot up the US best-selling list to grab the No. 1 spot, indicating the influence that Chavez wields within America.
Apparently he believed Chomsky had long departed the world but upon discovering he’s still alive and kicking he promptly issued the professor with an invite to Caracas.
Chavez is hoping to gain a lot more influence by gaining a seat on the UN Security Council after touring the world successfully lobbying international support. Naturally this is opposed by the US which would prefer that the seat go to the far less strident Guatemala. Chavez believes he is supported by all 22 members of the Arab League as well as most “nonaligned nations”.
But Chavez wasn’t the only leader intend on undermining the US in New York. Bolivian leader Evo Morales tried to undercut America’s war on drugs by waving a coco leaf before UN delegates while insisting that coca is not cocaine but rather a multiuse national resource.
Pakistan’s Gen. Musharraf disclosed a US post-Sept. 11 warning that his country would be bombed back to the Stone Age if it didn’t jump on board the “war on terror” but refrained from repeating the charge when questioned during a joint press conference with the US president.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad confused his critics by adopting an uncharacteristic charm offensive. “We love everyone,” he told reporters out to confront him over his country’s uranium enrichment program and to discover whether or not he really meant “to wipe Israel off the map”.
In the final analysis, America’s ambitions of global hegemony appear to have gone off kilter. A report from the British think tank Chatham House says the main winner from the invasion of Iraq has been Iran.
Another from a UN torture investigator indicates there is more torture going on in Iraq today than even under Saddam. Neither has helped win hearts and minds.
Then on Sunday the New York Times leaked a classified National Intelligence estimate citing the Iraq war as being the catalyst for increased “Islamic radicalism” that has “spread across the globe”.
The US is further unable to point to successes in Afghanistan where the black turbaned ones, the Taleban, have regrouped in force and are said to be funding their rearmament from the poppy crop, which at one time they sought to eradicate.
The mystery is Americans still haven’t woken up to such failure on a massive scale unlike their British counterparts, of which more than 60 percent are eager to see the back of Prime Minister Tony Blair without delay. But when they do — and they will — I predict there will be a massive backlash. Thanks to the Bush years, Americans have seen a depletion of more than soldiers’ lives and treasury. Their government has not only lost the respect and trust of the world but also many of its former friends.
The words of populist leader Hugo Chavez may be crude and undiplomatic but they should serve as a warning. Washington needs to mend fences and build bridges — and fast before the guy with the fattest wallet and the most powerful nukes is king.
