Again casting Bush as the devil, Chávez echoes Castro visits to Harlem
NEW YORK—In a visit reminiscent of Cuban leader Fidel Castro's famous forays into Harlem in 1960 and 1995, Venezuela's controversial president, Hugo Chávez, came to Harlem's Mount Olivet Baptist Church today to announce fuel aid for poor Americans and to, once again, taunt President Bush.
"Sometimes the devil takes the shape of a person," Chávez said, reiterating his depiction of Bush when he spoke yesterday to the U.N. General Assembly. Chávez told the crowded church in this mostly African-American section of New York City that the Bush administration had also prevented some of his entourage—medical and security personnel—from accompanying him into New York.
Chávez is following in the footsteps of his friend and mentor, the ailing Castro, and many observers believe he is trying to assume the mantle of the leader of anti-American sentiment in the Western Hemisphere.
Chávez was announcing that Citgo, which is owned by the government of Venezuela, is starting the second phase of a program to provide discounted heating oil to lower-income Americans, mostly in northern states. The program is expanding to seven additional states and Washington, D.C., for a total of 17 states. It has the potential to help more than 1 million people.
As a political jab, Chávez's humanitarian aid to the United States provides a stage on which he can help Americans who are not doing well. The Venezuelan leader was greeted with chants of "Chávez, Chávez" and dozens of people waving small yellow-red-and-blue Venezuelan flags. He was introduced by the actor Danny Glover, who embraced him forcefully at the front of the church, a Harlem landmark.
But Rep. Charles Rangel, a Democrat who represents Harlem in Congress, disavowed Chávez's remarks about Bush.
"You don't come into my country, you don't come into my congressional district, and you don't condemn my president," Rangel said. "If there is any criticism of President Bush, it should be restricted to Americans, whether they voted for him or not."
Chávez in all likelihood will be re-elected as Venezuelan president later this year, and he denounced his political foes—as he has done so often—as "malignant" and "selfish."
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