Posted on 01/25/2006 10:34:34 AM PST by Pyro7480
Venezuela nearing Marxist dictatorship, cardinal says
Jan. 16 (CNA/CWNews.com) - In one his harshest criticisms to date of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Cardinal Rosalio Castillo Lara accused that country’s government of having “lost its way” and of showing “signs of dictatorship.”
The retired Salesian cardinal presided at the traditional procession of the Divine Shepherdess—a popular Marian devotion that draws millions of people every year—through the downtown streets of Barquisimeto. Although he focused most of his homily on Marian devotion and the Catholic roots of Venezuela, Cardinal Lara launched his criticism of the Chavez regime at the end of his remarks. “On this solemn occasion I ask that we all together fervently pray to the Divine Shepherdess to save Venezuela,” the cardinal said. “We are facing an extremely grave situation like few others in our history.”
"A government democratically elected seven years ago has lost its democratic way and shows signs of dictatorship, where all powers are in the hands of one person who exercises them in an arbitrary and despotic way," Cardinal Castillo added, “not for the purposes of bringing about the greater common good of the nation, but rather for a twisted and archaic political project: that of implanting in Venezuela a disastrous regime like the one Fidel Castro has imposed on Cuba, at the cost of so many human lives and the progress of his nation.”
“The seven years of this government,” he warned, “provide abundant proof of what the future of Venezuela will be like if this regime continues in power.”
Pointing to the risks of a continuing Chavez government, Cardinal Lara noted that “dissidence, which is barely tolerated, is in many cases persecuted. Courts hand down unjust sentences in the name of the law. There are dozens of political prisoners, while common crime increases and reaps a tragic sum of 10,000 murders per year. Corruption—which they promised to radically eliminate— is spreading in the face of silence and complacent inaction by the General Comptroller of the Republic, resulting in the creation of thousands of new millionaires. At the same time, poverty is increasing, unemployment is widespread,” the cardinal stated.
Cardinal Lara also warned that “the extremely high price of oil, which would allow many problems to be solved, is being used instead to fund multi-million dollar gifts to obtain uncertain political loyalty from other nations, while in Venezuela we are painfully feeling the lack of interventions and projects to equip hospitals with what they need, to repair communication channels and city streets, to build housing and schools.”
Cardinal Lara said a future with Chavez would be “a very grave situation that could be compared to the cholera outbreak of 150 years ago that led to the miraculous intervention of the Divine Shepherdess.”
“If the Venezuelan people fail to grasp the seriousness of the situation and fail to categorically speak out in favor of democracy and freedom, we will find ourselves subjected to a Marxist-style dictatorship,” Cardinal Lara said in conclusion.
Later, Chavez demanded an apology from the Catholic Church (as cited by President Chávez demands apology from Catholic church). Chavez apparently "charged bishops with being part of a group seeking to destabilize the country and plotting to overthrow him."
The bishops had also issued a report that "expressed concern about 'the country's democratic destiny and increasing poverty and corruption.'" In response, Chavez said, ""I do not care about criticism. All in all, it is just another one. But I am worried about Catholic hierarchy meeting the whole week and issuing a report full of lies, where they claim to be concerned about the democratic destiny. This is the soundest democracy in the hemisphere."
Yeah, whatever, Chavez.
Catholic ping!
Nearing?
Or you could be different and pray to Christ..
Ad Jesum per Mariam
There can be no such thing as a free socialist government.
Venezuela nearing being the first OPEC country having trouble producing oil.
Maybe Hugo will have Cindy torch the church.
Senor Chavez really is a fiesty little maggot, isn't he?
Ah yes, but he might get worried again if Bellefonte gets ahold of him along with the throng of "millions and millions" of Americans supporting the "revolution"... /sarc
There's always the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea and the Peoples' Republic of China. Once upon a time there was the DDR.
In one his harshest criticisms to date of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Cardinal Rosalio Castillo Lara accused that country’s government of having “lost its way” and of showing “signs of dictatorship.”
Due to endless scandals in the Catholic church, nobody cares what they think.
Strange that this was carried in (to my knowledge) no newspaper here. But I guess they're down there covering Fruitloop Sheehan licking Hugo's boots, and we really wouldn't want to interfere with that image, would we?
ping
Don't confuse the Archdiocese of Boston with the rest of the world.
Endless? When your church/religion stops sinning, then you can cast your stones.
It's nice to see the church spread a little political truth. But I worry about how inconsistent this message is. I know of at least one latin american dictator who enjoys private Catholic services in the chapel he built for himself on his compound -- proabably purchased with grafted money from a government installed and maintained through brutal force against his own people. I guess I never heard the local bishops complain on their way to collect his donations.
Besides, I thought the Church had explicitly moved away from this whole "liberation theology" business. I'm wondering where the sudden anti-communist action is coming from.
Chavez,like Castro...and Mao....and Stalin...and Kim Jong Il...and other psychopathic Marxist dictators...wouldn't hesitate for a minute to "declare war" on the Catholic Church and its clergy,all the while telling the people that the Church wants them to die under the murderous thumb of the most evil man to ever walk the earth, President Bush.
Canada is SO 20th c. Every time I talk to a lib I urge them to flee to the new socialist paradise, Venezuela.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.