Washington – Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson caused heartburn in Washington and consternation in Latin America on Tuesday after calling for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
“I think we really ought to go ahead and do it. It’s a whole lot cheaper than starting a war,” Robertson said during Monday evening’s broadcast of “The 700 Club,” his Christian news-talk television show. “We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability.”
It was hardly the first time that Robertson, 75, has captured international attention with an eyebrow-raising comment, a prominence that also reflects his clout, now ebbing, among conservative Republicans.
The Bush administration scrambled to distance itself from the talk of assassination. The Venezuelan government expressed outrage.
“Our department doesn’t do that kind of thing. It’s against the law,” Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack called Robertson’s comments “inappropriate” and out of step with U.S. policy.
While administration officials might not agree with Robertson’s proposed solution, they share at least some of his concerns about the Venezuelan leader. Chavez has become increasingly vocal in his criticism of the United States. He spent the weekend with his ally Fidel Castro in Cuba.
Robertson said Chavez should be killed to keep him from turning Venezuela into a “launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism.”
“We don’t need another $200 billion war to get rid of one strong-arm dictator. It’s a whole lot easier to have some covert operative do the job and get it over with,” he said.
The evangelist previously has suggested that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks occurred because “we have insulted God at the highest level of our government.” He has said feminism encourages women to kill their children and become lesbians.
