In an Oct. 9 interview with CNN, televangelist Pat Robertson [2]—who recently got in hot water by calling for the assassination of Hugo Chavez [3]—accused the Venezuelan president of giving Osama bin Laden $1.2 million after the 9-11 attacks and of trying to obtain nuclear material from Iran.
"The truth is, this man is setting up a Marxist-type dictatorship in Venezuela, he's trying to spread Marxism throughout South America, he's negotiating with the Iranians to get nuclear material and he also sent $1.2 million in cash to Osama bin Laden right after 9-11," Robertson said. "I apologized and I said I will be praying for him, but one day we will be staring nuclear weapons and it won't be Katrina facing New Orleans, it's going to be a Venezuelan nuke."
"So my suggestion was, isn't it a lot cheaper sometimes to deal with these problems before you have to have a big war," he added (none-too-subtly advocating assassination again, despite his supposed "apology"). Asked how he had obtained information on Chavez giving money to bin Laden, Robertson said: "Sources that came to me. That's what I was told."
"And I know he sent a warm congratulatory letter to Carlos the Jackal, he's a friend of Mommar Qaddafi," he said. "He's made common cause with these people that are considered terrorists." (Australia Herald-Sun [4], Oct. 10)
Meanwhile, Chavez charged two weeks ago: "The United States is protecting the Osama bin Laden of Latin America." He was refering to the refusal of the US to deport Luis Posada Carriles, a Cuban right-wing militant wanted on terrorism charges in Venezuela. Chavez accused George Bush, of "double standards" in the fight against terror.
In September, Bush told a UN summit that "terrorists must know that, wherever they go, they cannot escape justice." (UK Guardian [5], Sept. 30)
See our last posts on the US-Venezuela showdown [6] and the Posada Carriles case [7]. Also note that far from wanting to "nuke" New Orleans, Chavez offered [8] to send planeloads of aid in the wake of Katrina—an overture predictably snubbed by Washington.
