Hugo Chavez Insults Starting to Sting

Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela, is an undersized bully with an oversized mouth seeking to exploit what little power he has in order to hurt as many Americans as possible. In the past few years, he has referred to President Bush as an imperialist who is planning to assassinate him, at least one expletive we won’t repeat here, and—most recently—“Mr. Danger,” although no one really knows what Mr. Chavez meant by that. These comments were mild compared to some of his statements about Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

President Chavez isn’t just a name-caller though; he is beginning to have a significant impact.

At September’s end, Chavez announced that Venezuela had moved its central bank foreign reserves out of the United States—this just as America recovers from the double-fisted attack of Katrina and Rita. All in all, he sold $20 billion of U.S. Treasury bonds and moved it to Europe.

“The reserves we had [invested] in U.S. Treasury bonds, we’ve sold them and we moved them to Europe and other countries …. I’m ready right now with the Venezuelan central bank … to move $5 billion [€4.15 billion] [of Venezuelan reserves], to a South American bank” (Associated Press, September 30). Some of that money may not be in Europe long, but one thing is certain: It will not be returning to the U.S. At some point, Washington might not be able to rely on 1.5 million barrels a day of Venezuelan oil either.

A Republican senator from Florida, Mel Martinez, has warned that, if the U.S. doesn’t take a more comprehensive, active approach in the region, Latin America risks sliding into a “populist Chavismo, anti-American sentiment” (Miami Herald, October 1).

President Chavez has also, according to the Washington Post, “bashed the United States on the al-Jazeera television network and traveled to Libya to receive an award from Moammar Qadhafi” ( March 15). He has openly supported Iran’s nuclear program, saying, “Faced with the threat of the U.S. government against our brother people in Iran, count on us for all our support” ( ibid.). He has made a point of putting his friendship with Cuban President Fidel Castro in the public eye. In other words, if a country is an enemy of the United States, it is a friend of Hugo Chavez.

Now, when Hugo Chavez delivers his most important blow to date by selling off Venezuela’s U.S. Treasury bonds, he turns to Europe. To long-time readers of the Trumpet, this should come as no surprise, as we have been warning that Latin American resources would ultimately go to Europe—not the United States—for a decade.

Decades earlier, in May 1962, Herbert Armstrong’s Plain Truth magazine declared, “[T]he United States is going to be left out in the cold as two gigantic trade blocs, Europe and Latin America, mesh together and begin calling the shots in world commerce.” We are seeing that prediction realized today, and Hugo Chavez is a major driving force behind it. Bible prophecy warns us that Latin America is not going to be the playground of the U.S. for long.