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Venezuela's Chavez lashes out at Germany's Merkel, suggests link to Hitler |
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Written by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Monday, 12 May 2008 |
In this photo released by Miraflores Press Office, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez speaks on his weekly radio and television show "Hello President" in Maracaibo, Venezuela, Sunday, May 11, 2008. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Miraflores Press Office
CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuela's president is accusing Germany's ruling party of sharing the same ideals as Adolf Hitler.
Hugo Chavez says he might confront German Chancellor Angela Merkel at Friday's summit of Latin American and European leaders in Peru. The Venezuelan president lashed out at Merkel late on Sunday, after she told an interviewer that Chavez doesn't speak for all of Latin America.
Chavez described Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union party as "the same right wing that supported Hitler and fascism."
Merkel's spokesman says the German leader will not add to what she has already said - that no single country can harm overall relations between the European Union and Latin America.
The spokesman added: "The comments of President Chavez speak for themselves."
Chavez joked during a weekly broadcast that Merkel might tell him to "shut up" in response, as Spanish King Juan Carlos did when Chavez criticized former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar at a summit last year.
But Merkel's spokesman, Thomas Steg, says the German leader has said all she is going to say on the matter.
"Every country has its own voice, with which they pursue their own interests," Steg quoted Merkel as saying.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Monday called Merkel a "great democrat," and in a clear reference to Chavez said "inflammatory, populist and aggressive" remarks go against efforts to increase co-operation between Europe and Latin America.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 12 May 2008 )
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