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VENEZUELA-ROBERTSON (UPDATED) Aug-30-2005 (510 words) With photos posted Aug. 16 and 25. xxxi
Venezuelans reject U.S. evangelist's call for president's murder
By Mike Ceaser
Catholic News Service
CARACAS, Venezuela (CNS) -- Religious and political leaders rejected the Rev. Pat Robertson's call for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Venezuela's Committee for Relations Between Churches, which includes Jews, Catholics and Evangelicals, issued a statement Aug. 24 expressing "consternation and absolute rejection of this inhuman incitement of murder, more so coming from a religious leader."
"We are convinced that dialogue and tolerance are the routes which should prevail for coexistence," the statement said.
In a separate statement, the Venezuelan Evangelical Council called Rev. Robertson's remarks "unthinkable for a Christian and undignified" for an evangelical minister.
On his nationally syndicated TV program, "The 700 Club," Rev. Robertson said that if Chavez, who has said the U.S. might invade Venezuela or assassinate him, "thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war."
During the Aug. 21 broadcast, Rev. Robertson also described Chavez as a "strong-arm dictator" and said Chavez was using Venezuela as "a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism all over the continent."
On Aug. 24, Rev. Robertson first said that he'd been misunderstood, then later apologized for his comments.
Worshippers leaving a Seventh-day Adventist Church in Caracas called his remarks un-Christian.
One parishioner, Noemi Mayz, said that maybe Rev. Robertson was "moved by hate. He's thinking more like a politician than a religious leader."
But the churchgoers said they doubted Rev. Robertson's remarks would produce rancor between the Venezuelan government and evangelicals, because the remarks were being blamed on the minister personally.
Catholic bishops have clashed verbally with Chavez. They have accused the president of violating human rights, ruling in an authoritarian style and weakening Venezuela's democratic system.
Venezuelan government officials characterized Rev. Robertson's statements as "criminal" and "terrorist" and demanded that the U.S. government denounce them. The State Department called Rev. Robertson's comments "inappropriate."
Rev. Robertson is a Republican and a supporter of President George W. Bush.
Chavez has repeatedly warned of plots to assassinate him, sometimes taking extraordinary security measures, but in six years as president there have been no documented attempts.
In Latin America, missionaries from the United States have sometimes been suspected of being American spies or secret agents sent to steal natural resources. In that context, some observers suggested that Rev. Robertson's comments could turn the environment for missionaries more hostile.
Rev. Robertson's comments about Chavez promoting communism and Muslim extremism apparently stemmed from Chavez's close relationships to many Arab nations and to communist Cuba. On Aug. 21, Chavez was in Cuba, where he described dictator Fidel Castro as a "revolutionary democrat."
Chavez initially said he did not know who Rev. Robertson was and did not care about the evangelist's comments. He later said the remarks had violated laws and that he would seek to have the pastor prosecuted.
The government also responded by suspending the issuance of visas to "Mormon and evangelical" missionaries. Evangelical leaders said they were seeking talks with the government.
END
Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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