Caracas - Venezuela ordered the expulsion of the Israeli
ambassador on Tuesday to protest Israel's ongoing military operation
in the Gaza Strip.
'At this tragic and outrageous hour, the people of Venezuela
express their unrestricted solidarity with the heroic Palestinian
people ... and lends a hand to them by saying that the Venezuelan
government will not rest until it sees severe punishment for those
responsible for these atrocious crimes,' the Venezuelan Foreign
Ministry said in a statement.
Venezuela described the Israeli offensive as 'state terrorism' and
'glaring violations of international law,' and ordered Ambassador
Shlomo Cohen and some of the remaining Israeli diplomatic personnel
to leave the country.
Caracas made a similar move two years ago, protesting an Israeli
military operation in Lebanon that was aimed at Hezbollah.
Earlier Tuesday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called the
Israeli Army 'cowardly' for its offensive in the Gaza Strip, and said
the people of Israel should protest the operation that has killed
more than 580 people.
'How cowardly is the Israeli Army. They attack a people that is
exhausted, asleep, innocent, and they boast that they are defending
their people,' Chavez told reporters. 'I call upon the people of
Israel to rise against that government.'
He said that presidents Shimon Peres of Israel and George W Bush
of the United States should be tried for 'genocide' at the
International Court of Justice.
During a visit to a children's hospital in Caracas, Chavez said
the international community must put a stop to the 'madness' in Gaza,
adding that his government was working to get humanitarian aid to the
Palestinian people.
Chavez said that, while his government respected Israelis living
in Venezuela, he wished that 'the Jewish Venezuelan community spoke
against this barbarity.'
'They accuse (Iranian President) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of being
responsible for genocide but there is not one piece of evidence, he
has invaded no one. Venezuela has not invaded anyone either. They
accuse (traditional Cuban leader) Fidel Castro of being a tyrant and
a murderer,' Chavez said of several of his allies.
He complained that no such accusations were being made against
Israel's Peres. 'How cynical the world is,' Chavez said.
TikJan 7th, 2009 - 00:39:16
So sad all Eastern European dictators are dead; Chavez is just late so now he has to play almost alone the entire show. Reminds me of Gogol's 'Diary of a Madman'
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