As the Vatican is warned about Chavez decreasing freedoms, Chavez says Cardinal Urosa should be whipped for lying. In the overwhelmingly Catholic Venezuela, church leaders have spoken out against what they see as Chavez’s increased authoritarianism. The Cardinal sites the governments refusal to renew the licenses of dozens of radio stations, legislation that takes powers away from elected officials who side with the opposition and the attorney general having filed criminal charges against several government foes as proof. In yesterdays newspaper Chavez denied the claim that he is steering Venezuela toward dictatorship.
“We’re advancing toward the complete democratization that we’ve called ‘Bolivarian socialism,’ whose primary objective is to give power to the people,” wrote Chavez, referring to his political movement named after 19th-century independence hero Simon Bolivar.
