US televangelist calls for assassination of Venezuelan president

American televangelist Pat Robertson has called for the assassination of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez on his religious television show, calling him a “terrific danger” to the US.

Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition of America and a former presidential candidate, said on his TV show The 700 Club that it was America’s duty to stop Chavez from making Venezuela a “launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism”.

Chavez has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of US president George Bush, accusing America of conspiring to topple his government and possibly backing plots to assassinate him. US officials have called the accusations ridiculous.

“You know, I don’t know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we’re trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it,” Robertson said.

“It’s a whole lot cheaper than starting a war … and I don’t think any oil shipments will stop.”

Efforts to contact a Robertson spokeswoman were not returned.

Venezuela is the fifth largest oil exporter and a major supplier of oil to the US. The CIA estimates that US markets absorb almost 59% of Venezuela’s total exports.

Venezuela’s government has demanded in the past that the US crack down on Cuban and Venezuelan “terrorists” in Florida who they say are conspiring against Chavez.

Robertson accused the US of failing to act when Chavez was briefly overthrown in 2002.

“We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability,” Robertson said.

“We don’t need another 200 billion-dollar (£110 billion) war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator,” he continued. “It’s a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with.”

Venezuelan officials earlier this year said they were considering legal options after one woman speaking on a Miami television programme called for Chavez’s assassination.