Posted on 07/17/2005 5:44:12 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) -- Venezuela's highest Catholic prelate on Sunday condemned President Hugo Chavez's rule as a dictatorship and urged Venezuelans to reject it in an attack likely to strain already poor church-government ties.
"I am convinced that what we have here is a dictatorship," Cardinal Rosalio Castillo, who is retired, said in a interview published by El Universal newspaper.
He told Venezuelans to use their constitutional right to refuse to recognize the left-wing president on the grounds he was not ruling democratically. Castillo did not elaborate on what actions he thought Venezuelans should take.
(Excerpt) Read more at edition.cnn.com ...
In other news, heat is hot
Unfortunately Cardinal Rosalio Castillo is likely to find out just how hot.
Exactly. He might find himself in the same position as Archbishop Romero in El Salvador--at the wrong end of a bullet.
True. I'm reminded of that documentary a couple years back which showed how the eeeeevil USA tried to stop this man of the people from being made dictator--uh, rigging the election---I mean, becoming the next leader of a Socialist South American country.
Good for the cardinal.
Unfortunately, I think he's about to become a cardinal-in-exile. . .
This is hot! Not even Chavez will be easily detain the cardinal. If he does, he will be against thousands of Christians of Venezuela.
Turning point in Venezuela Ping!
ping!
Ping!
No kidding. Still, it's a good sign that there's some resistance from the Church. Maybe it will provide a bit of a focal point.
One of the problems with VZ is that the opposition was never able to unite. Well, of course, the other problem was Jimmuh, who undermined them every step of the way and approved an election that was a blatant fraud. So perhaps uniting and winning legitimately and politically don't really matter in VZ anymore. I'm not sure most Venezuelans have the stomach for the alternative, though.
Unless they are going to violently overthrow him and his thugs they are simply target practice. Tens of thousands where out protesting Chavez several years ago. The result was Chavez still in power, some people dead, in prison, or missing which was then applied to his election recall.
This thug has got to go.
Didn't the Church give Chavez sanctuary after a nearly successful coup a couple years ago? The guy was on the verge of fleeing the country and practically in tears with gratitude. What an ingrate, who apparently learned nothing from that experience.
How did that one get past the Reuters editors? Shouldn't they have said "warm-hearted progressive", instead? ;)
Cardinal Calls Chavez a 'Dictator'
Venezuela's highest Catholic prelate has called President Hugo Chavez a dictator and urged Venezuelans to refuse to recognize him as the nation's leader.
"I am convinced that what we have here is a dictatorship," Cardinal Rosalio Castillo said in an interview.
Castillo is retired and said he could not speak officially for Venezuela's church. But he is the highest-ranking member of the church hierarchy in Venezuela.
He said the people of his nation should refuse to recognize the left-wing president because he was not ruling democratically, citing an article in Venezuela's constitution stipulating that citizens could reject a leader if he violated democratic principles or human rights.
"Reject this government," the cardinal declared, charging that Chavez "has seized control of all the branches of government." He said Chavez maintained a "varnish of democracy" but had assumed dictatorial powers.
"His goal above all is not to help the poor but to concentrate his power," Cardinal Castillo said, adding that Chavez was trying to install Cuban-style communism in the country.
Chavez, who calls himself the "second Fidel," has outlawed most forms of public protest, rewritten Venezuela's constitution to broaden his powers, purged critics in the military and tried to take over the national federation of trade unions.
He also engineered a law allowing his government to suspend the licenses of radio and TV stations for content "contrary to the security of the nation," and has even set up his own Latin American satellite channel to rival what he calls the U.S. propaganda that can now be seen on satellite TV.
Chavez responded to Castillo's remarks by calling the cardinal an "immoral bandit and coup-mongerer."
**Chavez, who calls himself the "second Fidel," has outlawed most forms of public protest, rewritten Venezuela's constitution to broaden his powers, purged critics in the military and tried to take over the national federation of trade unions.**
This is not good news at all.
**The cardinal's comments are likely to further strain relations with Chavez, who has described the church as a "tumor." **
Prayers for all the people in Venezuela especially for foreign exchange family my daughter lived with.
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