VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., Aug. 23 (UPI) -- U.S. televangelist and conservative Christian Pat Robertson has called for the assassination of left-wing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Speaking on his Christian Broadcasting Network's "The 700 Club," the conservative Robertson claimed Chavez was trying to make Venezuela "a launching pad for Communist infiltration and Muslim extremism all over the continent."
Citing Chavez's close ties with Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Venezuela's significant supply of oil, Robertson said the need for his elimination is justified, CNN said.
We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one strong-arm dictator," he said. "It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."
The White House denies trying to kill Chavez though does accuse him of trying to transform Venezuela into a Cuba-style state.
"You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it," said Robertson during a broadcast of The 700 Club.
"We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability."
This may be the first time I agree with Robertson.
Unfortunately he was the wrong messenger for this.
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