AP reports:
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday condemned NATO’s bombings in Libya, saying the aim is to seize control of the country’s oil wealth.
Chavez has been a staunch defender of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. He did not say whether he had been in contact with the Libyan leader in recent days and did not refer directly to the rebels who entered the capital of Tripoli on Sunday.
“Let’s pray to God for the Libyan people,” Chavez said during a televised speech.
Chavez condemned the latest NATO airstrikes in the country, as well as the roles of the United States and some European nations.
“Today they dropped I don’t know how many bombs, and they’re falling in a shameless and open way… on schools, hospitals, homes, work places, factories, farm fields at this very moment,” Chavez said. “They’re practically demolishing Tripoli with their bombs.”
He said U.S. and other powers had sought excuses to try to take over the country.
“It’s the excuse to intervene and seize a country and its riches,” Chavez said.
The leftist leader has repeatedly condemned NATO’s role in Libya and recently called the country’s rebels a “group of terrorists.”
Sorry, no English translation.
Francisco Toro at Caracas Chronicles records the following headlines in Venezuela’s state-controlled and pro-Chavez media:
AVN: “Obama demands Gaddafi’s resignation as a condition to stopping the blood-bath in Libya.”
TeleSUR: “Cameron affirms that aggression against the Libyan people was ‘necessary’”
Aporrea: ”NATO using sonic bombs to terrorize [Libyan] women and children.”
Correo del Orinoco: “NATO’s attacks on Tripoli leave 1,300 dead and 900 wounded.”
Update: Here is a translation of what Chavez said in the clip above:
“Thus, as there is false democracy, consider also how the democratic European governments (not all, but you know which ones) are practically demolishing Tripoli with their bombing…because it profits them, because it profits them. Today they’ve thrown I don’t know how many bombs. And they [bombs] are falling shamelessly and openly. They do not even trouble themselves to explain anything. For what purpose are they going to explain it? On schools, hospitals, houses, work centres, factories and agricultural centres right now. Let us pray to the father of the world for the Libyan people and the people of the world. God help them and may this world take the path of peace, of peace, but as there is this false government…”
(Hat tip: Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi)