This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L  CARACAS 003834 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
NSC FOR CBARTON 
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2014 
TAGS: PREL PTER VE ZP XD
SUBJECT: A PIOUS CHAVEZ CALLS FOR ANTI-U.S. UNITY ON 
AL-JAZEERA 
 
REF: STATE 3826 
 
Classified By: Stephen McFarland, Deputy Chief of Mission, 
for Reasons 1.4(d). 
 
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Summary 
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¶1. (C) Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told an Al-Jazeera 
interviewer December 3 that the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and 
Iraq were "more horrendous terrorism" than the terrorist acts 
they were intended to combat.  Speaking in a televised 
interview from Doha, Qatar, Chavez called for world 
solidarity against U.S. imperialism.  He spoke of his vision 
for a South American union as a means to bring about a 
"multi-polar" and "balanced" world.  Chavez said his 
Bolivarian Revolution is a new attempt at achieving 
socialism, which had been misapplied in the Soviet Union. 
Throughout the interview, Chavez quoted the Bible and made 
multiple references to his Christian faith.  Chavez is 
shopping around his "multi-polar world" foreign policy, which 
seemed well received by the Al-Jazeera interviewer.  End 
summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
Chavez Rips U.S. "Terrorism" in Iraq, Afghanistan 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶2. (C) Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez gave an interview on 
Al-Jazeera television on December 3 during a stopover in 
Qatar.  The interviewer praised Chavez for "caring about the 
poor and downtrodden" and for defying the United States. 
Chavez said confrontation with the United States is 
inevitable when a country tries to wipe out poverty.  Asked 
about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Chavez said it was 
the wrong way to fight terrorism.  The U.S. had, he asserted, 
engaged in a "more horrendous terrorism" by dropping bombs on 
"innocent children, women, men, and entire families."  He 
expressed solidarity with the people of Iraq and said they 
have a right to confront the United States.  He repeated 
accusations that the USG tried to overthrow him in April 
2002, but was unsuccessful because Venezuelans were armed and 
ready to defend their sovereignty and revolution. 
 
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Regions Must Unite Against U.S. Power 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) Chavez said that, in the face of the imperialist power 
of the U.S., the world has no choice but to unite.  A united 
Africa, South America, and Europe, what he calls "the 
multi-polar world," can gather enough economic and political 
force to offset U.S. power, according to Chavez.  On Arab 
unity, Chavez declined to give advice other than it is a 
question to be settled by sovereign nations.  Chavez 
highlighted South America as a region on the verge of a new 
era.  He called for the creation of a South American Union, 
which he said would encompass a new civilization that rivals 
the Middle East for natural resources.  He said the South 
American Union is the fulfillment of the dream of Simon 
Bolivar that would bring about "a balanced world."  He also 
asserted that the multipolar world will guarantee that the 
21st Century will be a "century of peace and will provide the 
opportunity for people to live as brothers and sons of the 
same God."  (Note:  Chavez and other South American leaders 
signed a declaration on December 9 to create a South American 
Community of Nations.) 
 
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Socialism Is Alive and Kicking 
------------------------------ 
 
¶4. (U) Acknowledging his intent to go "the opposite 
direction" from market-oriented economic policies, Chavez 
offered socialism as an alternative.  The Soviet Union fell, 
he said, because Stalin and Lenin distorted the model. 
Neo-liberal policies that are now dominant in the world will 
one day threaten life on earth, he said, and take it into 
"the fifth hell."  He said he uses oil in his "offensive war" 
against neo-liberalism by signing energy agreements with 
"peoples who need our assistance."  Chavez said his 
revolution was in the process of collecting new ideas for an 
advanced phase of enlightened thinking, noting that the 
 
 
Bolivarian project aims to place the human being at the top 
of its priorities.  He cited Fidel Castro's endorsement of 
Bolivarianism, which Castro called a "struggle for social 
justice and equality and the full freedom of man." 
 
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Chavez Gets Preachy 
------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) Throughout the interview, Chavez cited morality as the 
basis for his world struggle.  He described his revolution as 
an attempt to wipe out spiritual and cultural poverty, and to 
restore peoples' love of country.  He said the love with 
which Venezuelans work for the revolution is so immense that 
it drives out fear of U.S. imperialism.  In characterizing 
his fears, Chavez quoted Simon Bolivar, "our spiritual and 
eternal guide," as saying he always feared the power of God, 
or whatever you care to call him.  Chavez made multiple 
references to his Christian faith, the Bible and to Jesus 
Christ.  He said his revolution is based on fighting poverty, 
which was the path of "the Savior Jesus Christ."  Invoking 
Castro again, Chavez said the Cuban leader had told him he 
could call his revolution anything he wanted:  socialism, 
Bolivarianism, or Christianity. 
 
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Exaggerated Successes 
--------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) Chavez hailed his revolutionary successes in Venezuela 
with some embellishment.  He claimed to have wiped out 
illiteracy, breaking a 300-year cycle of poverty.  He said 15 
million Venezuelans (out of a population of approximately 24 
million) currently receive free health care, thanks to the 
assistance of Cuban doctors.  He asserted that some 10 
million Venezuelans are fed via government food programs. 
The interviewer complimented Chavez for "lifting millions of 
people" out of poverty in Venezuela. 
 
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Comment 
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¶7. (C) Chavez was trying to play the statesman and project an 
idealized version of his revolution internationally.  Even in 
the friendly environment of Al-Jazeera, Chavez resisted 
leading by the interviewer to elicit even harsher attacks 
against the U.S.  While Chavez routinely makes religious 
references, this interview went to new heights.  Chavez no 
doubt understood his Muslim audience and was trying to come 
off as "People of the Book." 
 
¶8. (C) Chavez is a shrewd politician and a skilled 
communicator.  While his message was crafted so as to appeal 
to his audience, the principal elements of that message have 
been in place for years for those willing to listen to his 
speeches: 
 
-- the inequality and immorality of the United States' 
international role; 
-- the immorality and illegality of USG policy in the Middle 
East and in the global war on terrorism; 
-- the need for a new, multi-polar world that can balance the 
USG; and 
-- the existence of a government in Venezuela as a model of 
"anti-imperialism" and of Chavez as a significant regional 
obstacle to the USG. 
 
Brownfield 
 
 
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      2004CARACA03834 - CONFIDENTIAL