“A campaign of lies is being spun together regarding Libya,” said Chavez, in a televised speech to a crowd of graduates who had just received diplomas from state universities. “I’m not going to condemn him. I’d be a coward to condemn someone who has been my friend.” The US government is behind the campaign to remove Qaddafi, he said.
“The United States has already said it’s ready to invade Libya, don’t you see? And almost all the countries of Europe are condemning Libya ... What do they want. They are rubbing their hands together. Oil is what’s important to them,” he said.
Chavez noted that numerous countries have condemned Qaddafi for cracking down on Libyans who have risen up against him.
“Maybe they have information that we don’t have,” he said.
Chavez slammed the United States for moving naval and air forces closer to Libya amid active international discussions about imposing a no-fly zone over the country, and he warned that US officials are preparing to invade Libya.
Chavez and Qaddafi, united in their mutual antagonism toward Washington, have forged close ties.
Venezuela’s opposition has strongly criticized Chavez for his close relationship to Qaddafi. Earlier on Monday, a coalition of opposition parties warned that Chavez’s failure to take a stand against Qaddafi’s violent crackdown is smearing Venezuela’s reputation.
“By distancing himself from the numerous nations that condemn the criminal actions of the Libyan leader, Chavez makes our country out to be his defender and irresponsibly puts us alongside governments rejected by the international community,” the coalition said in a statement.
Opposition politician Gustavo Azocar demanded that Chavez ask Qaddafi to return a replica of the sword that once belonged to 19th-century independence hero Simon Bolivar.
Azocar said in an e-mail sent to The Associated Press on Monday that Venezuela’s foreign minister, Nicolas Maduro, “should explain why the government gave the sword of the Liberator, Simon Bolivar, to an assassin like Qaddafi.”
Chavez gave the sword to Qaddafi last year. The self-proclaimed socialist has scoffed at suggestions by his adversaries that protests similar to those sweeping the Middle East could occur in Venezuela.
Venezuela and Libya are both major oil exporters.
