Venezuela's Chavez calls Obama "ignoramus"

Obama thinks that the whole world, oops, universe worships him. He's already had a rude awakening to foreign policy and things just started to get interesting.

Wait until he attends the G20 summit and makes a few blunders. He doesn't know the meaning of the word protocol and has been unable to be diplomatic even within the White House. Should we expect that he'll do any better on the road?

The whole world has been watching him laugh and joke with Jay Leno and 60 Minutes, while the economy is imploding. Tomorrow night he'll be on nationwide TV, talking smooth, and acting all professional while he reads the teleprompter. He'll think that when he's done talking everything will be better. The only thing taking place tomorrow night is self adulation.
Rees

from Reuters
Sun Mar 22, 2009
Reporting by Frank Jack Daniel

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama was at best an "ignoramus" for saying the socialist leader exported terrorism and obstructed progress in Latin America.

"He goes and accuses me of exporting terrorism: the least I can say is that he's a poor ignoramus; he should read and study a little to understand reality," said Chavez, who heads a group of left-wing Latin American leaders opposed to the U.S. influence in the region.

Chavez said Obama's comments had made him change his mind about sending a new ambassador to Washington, after he withdrew the previous envoy in a dispute last year with the Bush administration in which he also expelled the U.S. ambassador to Venezuela.

"When I saw Obama saying what he said, I put the decision back in the drawer; let's wait and see," Chavez said on his weekly television show, adding he had wanted to send a new ambassador to improve relations with the United States after the departure of George W. Bush as president.

In a January interview with Spanish-language U.S. network Univision, Obama said Chavez had hindered progress in Latin America, accusing him of exporting terrorist activities and supporting Colombian guerrillas.

"My, what ignorance; the real obstacle to development in Latin America has been the empire that you today preside over," said Chavez, who is a fierce critic of U.S. foreign policy.

In the 20th century the United States supported several armed movements and coups in Latin America. Chavez says Washington had a hand in a short-lived putsch against him in 2002, which was initially welcomed by U.S. officials.

Chavez and Obama will both attend the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago next month. It is not known whether they will meet.
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