Pat Robertson, the one-time presidential candidate and evangelical religious leader, has called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. I have spent a fair amount of time in Venezuela and work with many Venezuelan exiles who have come to the United States to escape the dictatorship that Chavez is creating there. Chavez meets with Fidel Castro regularly and there is little doubt that he admires and wants to create a Cuban-style state. But can we agree that calling for the assassination of a foreign leader is probably not something a religious leader should do?
The worst thing about this whole episode is it gives Chavez an excuse to rachet up his anti-US rhetoric and blame all of his country’s problems on the United States. Poverty has increased since Chavez has been in office, primarily because of his anti-free market policies. And this despite an oil boom that should have brought cash and jobs to hundreds of thousands. Much of the oil money is going to Chavez’s cronies and to buying weapons. Chavez has imported nearly a million rifles that he supposedly is giving to “the people” to fight a planned U.S. invasion. (This is exactly what the Sandinistas did in Nicaragua, Castro did in Cuba and Noriega did in Panama).
The Church has once again proven its sagacity in dealing with Chavez. It has ignored political issues and continued to emphasize building up the kingdom of God. If the tensions mount, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Chavez eventually threaten to kick out U.S.-based missionaries or accuse them of being spies. Robertson’s call for assassinating Chavez can’t help in that regard.