Chavez Warns that Obama "Repeats Bush's Discourse Against Venezuela"

President Chavez said that independent of the US internal situation, "this worries us.  Right here, right now, I'm putting it out there...he [Obama] threw a stone at me...multiple stones."

by TeleSUR

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez criticized his US counterpart, Barack Obama, because he believes Obama "repeats the same discourse" that the outgoing leader, George W. Bush, has maintained "against Venezuela."  At the same time, he stated that his Government will be respected on all fronts, including the diplomatic front.

The Venezuelan president's statements were made in response to comments Obama made in an interview this past Monday, January 12.

"Chavez has been a force that has interrupted the region's progress."  Venezuela "is exporting terrorist activities," were the statements of Barack Obama, the president-elect of the United States.

Chavez responded to these words this past Thursday: "Compadre, don't confuse me with Bush."  He asked, "Ay, President Obama.  Are you going to begin throwing piconazos [a bad pitch in baseball]?"

"Could it be that Obama confused me with Bush?" Chavez continued, "The one who has interrupted not only the region's progress but is also throwing the world into an abyss is and has been Bush.  And one of the biggest challenges that Obama has inherited is the economic, moral, industrial, social, and unemployment crises that exist in the United States," he observed.

Chavez lamented "how uninformed Obama is" because "he repeats what [George W.] Bush says."

The "Stone" Worries Him

President Chavez also said that independent of the US' internal issues, "this worries us.  Right here, right now, I am putting it out there...he [Obama] threw a stone at me...multiple stones."

"I have to complain and make it public, because afterwards they'll say that Chavez began to throw stones, that he likes to fight with the whole world...as always, the creole bourgeoisie, the owners of the media, want to present me as if Chavez had attacked, was disrespectful, the stone-thrower, the violent one," he explained.

He also said that Barack Obama, who will assume office on January 20, lets himself get caught up in the "reports" that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and that country's other so-called intelligence agencies send him.

"I haven't said anything about Obama, because I am waiting and I say: see to believe."

The Venezuelan leader manifested his hope that the new president steps back a bit and reads Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream, which is not exactly the American dream.  "It's something else," he said while reminding that this past January 15 was the day that African-American social fighter's birthday is observed.  He was assassinated by the US ultra-right wing.

"I hope this is in time, so that Obama can correct himself, and when he assumes the presidency of the US, and even though he'll have the limitations of being the president of an imperial country, he'll have the most fundamental respect for other countries' rules and sovereignty," he added.