Chavez condemns U.N. and U.S.

by Nicole Duarte

published by UPI, September 16, 2005

Venezuelan President Caesar Chavez named U.S.-sponsored terrorism and "dictatorship" top grievances at the United Nations 2005 World Summit.

Chavez denounced Thursday the summit's so-called "outcome document," a list of principles approved earlier this week by a consensus, calling it an "illegal" reform document that was produced in violation of the U.N. Charter.

While under the rules of the General Assembly, all voting parties must receive copies of a measure before it can be discussed or voted upon. Chavez said his delegation received a the copy of the 35-page document, in English, five minutes before the session began.

"The document was approved with a dictator's hammer," said the Venezuelan leader.

After his address in the General Assembly, Chavez asked reporters, "The negotiation was restricted to 30 states. Are we all equal or what?" Venezuela and Cuba were the only nations to lodge official reservations to the reform document.

He also blasted the lack of progress on the Millennium Development Goals, the eight time-bound targets that guide U.N. development efforts. At the current rate, Chavez said, the "modest" MGDs would be achieved in 2215, not 2015, the original deadline.

Additionally, he said Caracas opposed development regimes like the trade liberalization measures recently advocated by U.S. President George W. Bush to the Organization of American States. Such policies were part of a "neo-liberal, capitalist" agenda responsible for misery and suffering to Latin America, he added.

Instead, Chavez called for a "new economic and political order" advocating the abolishment of the veto power of permanent members of the Security Council, expanding membership to that body, and strengthening the role of the U.N. secretary-general.