By Christopher Toothaker
Caracas - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez severely criticised the war in Iraq on Sunday, calling United States President George Bush a "coward" for not taking personal command of US troops in Iraq.
In his harshest words for Bush in months, Chavez also urged God to free the world of the threat posed by "Mr Danger" - a nickname he frequently uses for Bush - and accused Washington of leading efforts to isolate his "revolutionary" government.
"I'm going to tell you something Mr Danger: You are a coward, do you know that?" Chavez said. "Why don't you go to Iraq to command your armed forces? It's very easy to command them from so far away."
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| 'The world is opposed to your war, Mr Danger' |
Videos showing children at peace demonstrations, US soldiers in combat, and footage of a recent anti-war protest outside the US Embassy in Caracas were broadcast after Chavez condemned the war.
"The world is opposed to your war, Mr Danger," said Chavez, speaking during his weekly television and radio programme "Hello President".
Chavez, who was hosting Sunday's programme from Venezuela's sun-baked plains, recited lyrics from a local folk song. "I sting those who rattle me, Mr Danger" said Chavez, announcing he would help defend this oil-rich South American nation if US forces ever invaded.
"If one day if the crazy idea of invading Venezuela occurs to you, I will wait for you in this savannah, Mr Danger," said Chavez. "God, liberate the world of this threat."
Relations between Caracas and Washington have been tense in recent months. US officials have voiced concerns over the health of Venezuela's democracy, and Chavez has accused the United States of conspiring to topple him or invade his country to take control of its oil industry.
| 'God, liberate the world of this threat' |
US Ambassador William Brownfield said in an interview published in the Venezuelan newspaper El Universal on Sunday that Washington is also concerned over Venezuela's increasingly close ties with Iran.
"When a country increases its bilateral relations with Iran, it's a strategic worry" for the US government, Brownfield said, in comments confirmed by the US Embassy.
Chavez has defended Iran's right to develop nuclear power for peaceful energy uses, while Washington and its allies have raised concerns that Iran could be trying to make nuclear weapons - an allegation that Iran vehemently denies.
"Nobody should be surprised if my government, which feels threatened by some of Iran's policies and decisions, takes these relations into account when putting together our national security strategy," Brownfield said.
Venezuela has sharply criticised the United Nations Security Council's involvement in concerns about Iran's nuclear programme, saying negotiation should win out over confrontation.
Twenty-seven of the 35 members of the International Atomic Energy Agency, a UN nuclear watchdog, voted in January to refer Iran to the Security Council over fears it aims to build an atomic bomb. Venezuela, Cuba and Syria voted against it, and the rest abstained. - Sapa-AP
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