WASHINGTON, 24 August 2005 — American’s founding fathers must have had the likes of television evangelist Pat Robertson in mind when they wrote the US Constitution. In it, they called for the separation of church and state. In other words, religious leaders were to stick to religion and keep away from politics.
But such wisdom is of little concern to conservative Christian Pat Robertson, who already has developed a penchant for insulting Islam. Yesterday he broadened his horizons and called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Speaking on his Christian Broadcasting Network’s “The 700 Club,” Robertson claimed Chavez was trying to make Venezuela “a launching pad for Communist infiltration and Muslim extremism all over the continent.”
“We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come to exercise that ability,” Robertson said Monday on the program, an audiotape of which was posted on the Web site of the Christian Broadcasting Network [www.cbn.com/700club/], founded by the cleric and based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. “This is a dangerous enemy to our south controlling a huge pool of oil.”
Killing Chavez, who is currently visiting Cuba, would be cheaper than starting a war, he said. “We don’t need another $200 billion war to get rid of one strong-arm dictator,” Robertson said. “It’s a whole lot easier to let some of the covert operatives to do the job and get it over with.”
Venezuela’s vice president was quick to react and accused Robertson of making “terrorist statements.”
Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said Venezuela was studying its legal options, adding that how Washington responds to Robertson’s comments would put its anti-terrorism policy to the test.
“The ball is in the US court, after this criminal statement by a citizen of that country,” Rangel told reporters. “It’s huge hypocrisy to maintain this discourse against terrorism and at the same time, in the heart of that country, there are entirely terrorist statements like those.”
The State Department distanced itself from Robertson’s comments.
“We do not share his view, and his comments are inappropriate,” spokesman Sean McCormack said.
Chavez, 51, has repeatedly accused President George Bush of backing efforts to topple his government, a charge the US denies. The Bush Administration has, however, said Venezuela is using its oil to undermine democracy in Latin America.
Chavez has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of President Bush, accusing the United States of conspiring to topple his government and possibly backing plots to assassinate him. US officials have called the accusations ridiculous.
“I don’t know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we’re trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it,” said Robertson.
Robertson has made a name for himself through his controversial statements. In 2003, he suggested that the State Department be blown up with a nuclear device. He has also said that feminism encourages women to “kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.”
Two years ago, the popular US televangelist accused Muslims as being “worse than the Nazis” and called for Jews to wake up to this threat.
The one-time presidential hopeful, who has been highly critical of Islam in the past, said Muslims wanted to exterminate Jews, and cited select passages from the Qur’an that allegedly likened Jews to apes and pigs.
“Adolf Hitler was bad, but what the Muslims want to do to the Jews is worse.”
Robertson’s anti-Islam comments have been denounced by Jewish and Muslims groups alike.
— Additional input from agencies
