VENEZUELA: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez calls for an end to "aggression by the Israeli elite"

Record ID: 397059

  • Title: VENEZUELA: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez calls for an end to "aggression by the Israeli elite"
  • Date: 19th July 2006
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE)(Spanish) VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ SAYING: "My government continues to reject the aggression by the Israeli elite against the people of Palestine and against Lebanon. We demand, in the name of the Venezuelan people, the end of these aggressions that could bring us to unimaginable situations, not only in the Middle East, but in all the world." AUDIENCE A
  • Embargoed: 3rd August 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA46KLVFJYLD9IAZECHM75RI1JN
  • Story Text: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez demanded on Tuesday (July 18) that Israel end attacks on Palestine and Lebanon, as the international community seeks an end to the violence in the Middle East.
    Israeli warplanes struck Lebanon on Wednesday (July 19) with thousands awaiting evacuation as the death toll mounted in a conflict that has entered its second week with no early end in sight.
    "My government continues to reject the aggression by the Israeli elite against the people of Palestine and against Lebanon. We demand, in the name of the Venezuelan people, the end of these aggressions that could bring us to unimaginable situations, not only in the Middle East, but in all the world," Chavez said during the inauguration of a Caracas public transportation project.
    Chavez, a former soldier who has promised to revive socialism in the world's No. 5 oil exporter, is a harsh critic of the United States government and has expressed sympathy for the Palestinians. The Israeli embassy in Caracas did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
    U.S. President George W. Bush has described Hizbollah as the root cause of the current conflict and said Syria, which supports the Shi'ite Muslim group, was trying to "get back into Lebanon" one year after ending its 29-year military presence.
    The crisis erupted when Hizbollah, which is backed by Iran and Syria, captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others in a cross-border raid last week. Israel responded with a wave of air strikes on Lebanon.
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