Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has warned he will lodge a complaint against the US at the UN and other international bodies if the US government fails to act against television evangelist Pat Robertson, who has called for Chavez's assassination.
"If the US government does not take action that it must take, we will go to the UN and Organization of American States to denounce the US government," the Venezuelan leader said Sunday as he addressed participants at talks on a social charter for the Americas.
He added he believed that by failing to act against Robertson, the US was "giving protection to a terrorist, who is demanding the assassination of a legitimate president."
PHOTO: AP
Robertson caused a diplomatic stir last Monday when he said on the air that if Chavez believed the US was trying to kill him, "I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it."
Robertson apologized Wednesday, but then went on to compare Chavez to former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and to suggest the US could one day be at war with his oil-rich country.
Chavez, a twice-elected leftist and close ally of Cuban President Fidel Castro, has often said Washington would like to assassinate him, and accuses the Bush administration of involvement in a coup d'etat that toppled him for 47 hours in April 2002. US officials last week distanced themselves from Robertson's comments.
The Venezuela president said he had already instructed his foreign minister and the country's ambassador to Washington to begin the process in the international bodies.
He said Venezuela could use international treaties and conventions to demand the extradition of the television preacher.
Chavez said he believed Robertson "should be sent to prison to serve as an example for the entire world."
Meanwhile, visiting US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson lent his support to Chavez, saying Robertson's remarks were "repugnant, immoral, illegal." Addressing the Venezuelan National Assembly, Jackson called for the US Justice Department to investigate the statement. Jackson, on a three-day visit to Venezuela to meet Chavez, politicians and community leaders, also called on US President George W. Bush to issue "a swift rejection" of Robertson's statement.
"It must be unequivocally clear that such a heinous act is not desirable nor designed nor planned. We must use power to reduce tensions, reduce the rhetoric of our threats," Jackson said.
The US State Department sought to distance itself from Robertson last week, calling his remarks "inappropriate" but said the evangelist spoke as a "private citizen."
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number