Haaretz
Av 10, 5766
Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez said Thursday he has recalled his country's ambassador to Israel to
show his "indignation" over the military offensive in Lebanon.
"We
have ordered the withdrawal of our ambassador in Israel," Chavez said in a
televised speech, calling Israeli attacks in Lebanon
"genocide."
"It really causes indignation to see how the state of
Israel continues bombing, killing ... with all of the power they have,
with the support of the United States," Chavez said after a military
parade in the northwestern state of Falcon.
The leftist Venezuelan
leader has repeatedly criticized Israel's offensive aimed at Hezbollah
guerrillas in Lebanon, noting mounting civilian deaths and saying the
United Nations should act to halt the violence.
"It's hard explain
to oneself how nobody does anything to stop this horror," said Chavez,
whose government has until recently said it had good relations with
Israel.
Chavez, an outspoken critic of Washington, also criticized
what he called a relentless "campaign" by the U.S. government to keep
Venezuela from obtaining a seat on the UN Security Council. U.S. officials
have backed Guatemala for the seat, saying Venezuela would be a disruptive
influence on the council.
The Venezuelan leader, a close ally and
protege of Cuban President Fidel Castro, spoke after returning from an
international tour that took him to Argentina, Belarus, Russia, Qatar,
Iran, Vietnam, Mali and Benin. While in Iran, Chavez called the Israeli
offensive in Lebanon a "fascist outrage."
"The Israeli elite
repeatedly criticize Hitler's actions against the Jews, and indeed
Hitler's actions must be criticized, not just against the Jews but against
the world," Chavez said during his visit to Iran, adding: "It's also
fascism what Israel is doing to the Palestinian people ... terrorism and
fascism."
Venezuela has both Arab immigrant and Jewish communities,
and officials have insisted the government will continue to fully respect
the Jewish community despite its strong opposition to Israel's war in
Lebanon.
Some in Venezuela have protested against the fighting in
Lebanon, including one group that burned an Israeli flag outside the
Israeli embassy last month.