Obama stinks says Hugo Chavez

Last November, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez seemed optimistic that U.S.-Venezuela relations "will enter a new phase" under Barack Obama. Chavez expressed hope that ties between both countries would improve compared to the eight years under George “smells like sulfur” Bush.

In the days before Obama’s inauguration, however, Chavez changed his tune to a more pessimistic one:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Saturday Barack Obama had the "stench" of his predecessor as U.S. president and was at risk of being killed if he tries to change the American "empire"…

"I hope I am wrong, but I believe Obama brings the same stench, to not say another word," Chavez said at a political rally on a historic Venezuelan battlefield.

"If Obama as president of the United States does not obey the orders of the empire, they will kill him, like they killed Kennedy, like they killed Martin Luther King, or Lincoln, who freed the blacks and paid with his life."

In an interview aired on Univision, Obama declared that Chavez had "been a force that has interrupted progress in the region” and warned about alleged links between Chavez and Colombia’s FARC rebels. Meanwhile, U.S. diplomatic officials said that the incoming Obama administration would seek "renewed dialogue" with Venezuela.

Chavez’ comments on Saturday came during a political rally in support of an upcoming referendum. Venezuelans will decide in a national vote on February 15th whether term limits should be removed for president, mayors, and governors.

Image- AP (“In this photo released by Miraflores Press Office, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, left, speaks with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva during a visit to a farm near Maracaibo, Venezuela, Friday, Jan. 16, 2009. (AP Photo/Miraflores Press Office)”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, The Telegraph, LAHT, Reuters, AP, washingtonpost.com