Church vs. Chavez

last updated 8 January 2015

Caracas, Venezuela

The highest ranking Roman Catholic official in Venezuela this week called the country’s president, Hugo Chavez, a “paranoid dictator” in need of “an exorcism.” Cardinal Rosalio Castillo Lara said Chavez, a left-wing populist and former paratrooper, had recently rounded up more than 100 political prisoners in an ongoing effort to give himself dictatorial powers. “This is a despotic government,” Castillo said. Chavez insists he supports democracy—polls show him the likely winner if he runs for re-election next year. Chavez said Castillo is “a bandit” who “has the devil inside him.”