Colombia’s Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos as president would be a
threat for peace in the Americas, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said
Wednesday, calling Santos the pupil of the extreme right “yankee”.
Chávez, who has repeatedly clashed with the Colombian Defense Minister, repeated the Venezuelan Government’s rejection of Colombia’s “right” to attack terrorists in a neighbor country, as defended as such by Santos.
“Imagine the threat to peace on this continent with a gentleman like this if he achieves his goals,” Chávez said on Venezuelan television.
“The Minister of Defense [of Colombia] occasionally goes crazy and then says they will look for the terrorists where ever they are. Crazy. And he wants to be President of Colombia,” Chávez continued.
Chávez recalled how Santos firmed the constitution of the Council of Defense of UNASUR, the South American union of states, that included the inviolability of territorial sovereignty. “There he was quiet, of course, because he was alone and no one on this continent accepts him turning Colombia into something like Israel,” the Venezuelan Head of State said.
The left-wing Chávez and right-wing Santos have clashed on numerous occasions. In some cases, Colombian President Álvaro Uribe had to step in and correct words of his Defense Minister.
