Caracas, Venezuela
If the U.S. doesn’t like the way Venezuela is governed, President Hugo Chavez said last week, it can “go to hell.” Chavez’s outburst was prompted after a U.S. State Department spokesman criticized the Venezuelan legislature’s decision to authorize Chavez to rule by decree for 18 months, giving him almost limitless authority. The American official called the move “a bit odd in terms of a democratic system.” Chavez responded in a radio address. “That is a sacrosanct legal authority of Venezuela,” he declared. “Go to hell, gringos! Go home, go home!” Chavez also taunted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who once called him a “negative force” in Latin America. “Hi, Condoleezza,” he said. “You’ve forgotten about me, my little girl!”
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