[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 14]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 19633]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   CHAVEZ: OUTRAGEOUS AND OUTLANDISH

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BARNEY FRANK

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 25, 2006

  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, the Boston Globe Editorial 
on Friday, September 22, accurately describes the antics of Venezuelan 
President Chavez at the U.N. He was simultaneously outrageous and 
outlandish, using the great forum of the U.N. General Assembly for a 
semi-coherent diatribe. He gave a clear example of why his support in 
elections in Latin America has been toxic to those who've received it. 
Recently, in Peru and in Mexico, being tied to Chavez by their 
opponents, accurately or not, was very damaging to presidential 
candidates.
  I hope Americans will also make it clear to Chavez that his crudity 
and disrespect for democracy will find little support here.


                           DEVIL IN DISGUISE

       The Bush Administration deserves to be criticized for many 
     of its foreign policies, but Hugo Chavez is not the one to do 
     it. By his intemperate and foolish remarks at the United 
     Nations Wednesday and his continuing support for 
     authoritarian regimes, the Venezuelan president has forfeited 
     his claim to leadership in world affairs.
       ``The devil came here yesterday,'' Chavez said in reference 
     to President Bush's speech of the day before. Chavez made the 
     sign of the cross and engaged in other theatrics to provoke 
     his audience of the U.N. General Assembly. George Bush was 
     reelected with 50.7 percent of the vote in 2004 after a 
     vigorously fought, unfettered campaign, and he will leave 
     office without a fuss in 2009 after eight years. Bush can be 
     called many things but not the ultimate embodiment of evil.
       Chavez has been brandishing anti-Americanism ever since he 
     became president in 1998. He intensified his denunciation of 
     the Bush administration after a failed coup in 2002, which he 
     believed Washington had fomented. Venezuela, with its vast 
     oil reserves, has benefited greatly from the surge in oil 
     prices since 2001. Chavez is criticizing the leading force 
     behind a world economic system that has enriched his country 
     and enhanced his power.
       Were Chavez really concerned with the oppressed of the 
     world, he would not consort with Kim Jong Il and Bashir 
     Assad, who have continued their fathers' repressive regimes 
     in North Korea and Syria. Nor would he have created an 
     informal alliance with antidemocratic Iran, or extended a 
     lifeline to Fidel Castro in Cuba, or visited Iraq in 2000 to 
     support Saddam Hussein. If the United States opposes a 
     dictator, Chavez backs him.
       This monotone foreign policy, combined with his outburst 
     this week, undercuts Venezuela's campaign for the Latin 
     American seat on the U.N. Security Council, which will be 
     decided by a two-thirds majority of the General Assembly on 
     Oct. 16. The Security Council has important votes coming up 
     in the next year, on sanctions against Iran and action to 
     stop genocide in Darfur, among others. Venezuela, under the 
     leadership of Chavez, would not make a positive contribution.
       Deprived of an international forum, Chavez would have more 
     time to spend on his reelection campaign. It ought to be as 
     freely contested as the 2004 race between Bush and John F. 
     Kerry. And if Chavez wins on Dec. 3, he ought to devote his 
     six-year term to solving the great recurring problem of 
     Venezuela: How a country endowed with such natural wealth can 
     leave almost half its people in utter poverty. Chavez would 
     earn more enduring fame by leading Venezuela out of this 
     resource trap.

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