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Posted on 04/11/2003 2:28:08 PM PDT by kattracks
Venezuela's Chavez says Iraq war hurts U.N., OPEC
CARACAS, Venezuela, April 11 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Friday the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq had destroyed the role of the United Nations, threatened the unity of the OPEC oil exporters' cartel and turned the world into a dangerous place.
Speaking on the first anniversary of a military coup that briefly toppled him last year, the leftist president said the U.S.-British campaign in Iraq would weaken the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, of which both Iraq and Venezuela are members.
Venezuela, the world's No. 5 oil exporter, is a major supplier of oil to the United States.
"I am one of the many who think that what is happening in Iraq is very dangerous for the world," Chavez told a news conference for foreign journalists in Caracas.
The populist leader, who angered Washington three years ago by visiting Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in Baghdad, has kept up fierce criticism against the war in Iraq since U.S. and British forces launched their attack more than three weeks ago. He has especially lamented Iraqi civilian casualties.
"The United Nations is practically de-activated," Chavez said, noting that the United States had gone ahead with the war without the backing of the United Nations Security Council.
"So what's the United Nations for, then?" he asked.
Despite his fierce public anti-war stance, his government has said it is guaranteeing oil shipments to clients in the United States, which normally receives more than 13 percent of its oil imports from Venezuela.
Chavez predicted that the U.S.-British invasion of Iraq would affect both the unity and strength of OPEC, where he has been a firm supporter of the cartel's policies to coordinate oil production and keep world oil prices stable.
"In so much as OPEC is weakened, and oil prices are weakened, then this will have a negative impact for us from the economic point of view," he said.
Venezuela is facing a sharp economic recession following an opposition strike against Chavez in December and January that slashed petroleum production and exports and choked off vital oil revenues for the government. Since the strike fizzled out in early February, the government says it has restored output and exports to normal.
Chavez, a former paratrooper whose anti-capitalist rhetoric and friendship with states like Cuba and Libya have drawn U.S. criticism in the past, condemned the U.S.-British forces in Iraq for bombing cities where civilians lived.
"I'm a soldier and there are rules of war," he said.
He also defended his 2000 visit to Baghdad, when he became the first foreign head of state to meet Saddam face-to-face since the 1991 Gulf War.
"I didn't know that was the case," Chavez said, adding the only reason he had gone to Baghdad had been to strengthen unity and cooperation among OPEC members.
04/11/03 17:23 ET
Dumbass Danny Ortega wannabe.
Two out of three ain't bad, especially when the third is a blatant, self-serving lie.
PTL
It's as if all left-wingers and despot buttheads are whining, falling apart, scared or running for cover.
I think I'm becoming optomistic.
Now, the President needs to declare "war of left-wingers and liberals"..."axis of weasels" and demand his tax cuts, spending cuts, government reduction, ecconomic stimulus package, eneryg self-reliance (drilling in ANWR and elsewhere),judicial nominees to be confirmed or else he will take it directly to the American public....can you say Hispanic Americans fighting and sacrificing in Iraq for this country?
And there won't be a thing you'll be able to do about it.
Oh, and one more thing. Pass this message on to your buddy Fidel - same for his lice-encrusted a$$.
There they go again! That would be, "the communist dictator" -- another totalitarian opposed to the liberation of the Iraqi people.
A twofer!
Lemme see here, how many Venezuelans has Chavez murdered just for using their freedom of speech and assembly? How many have no work and can't support their families because of his economic insanity?
So glad you asked, Hugo. It's for bringing down America. Always has been.
It's one nitwit after another running the planet.
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