Honduras demands apology from Venezuela
Jul 29, 2007
The Honduran Congress has called upon President Manuel Zelaya to demand a retraction from President Chavez for insults to native son and Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga.
(speroforum.com, July 27, 2007) Honduran president Manuel Zelaya joined other leaders from across the political and social spectrum of the Central American republic to defend native-son and Catholic prelate Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga from perceived insults hurled by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez this week.
The red-shirted Venezuelan president and ally of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro responded to an earlier call by Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga for dialogue by calling the Catholic leader a "parrot" of Washington and an "imperialist clown." Last Sunday, Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga said in an interview in reference to President Chavez "he is not a god with the right to arrogantly trample upon everyone else."
President Zelaya said that he would intervene via telephone with the Venezuelan president "to tell him about Oscar Andres Rodriguez, explain who he is and what he means to our country and our people". Zelaya was joined by members of his country's parliament and human rights organizations.
The Honduran Congress has called upon President Zelaya to use means at his disposal to demand a retraction from Chavez, who has locked horns with the Catholic Church in the recent past by calling Venezuelan bishops "perverts". Until this week, Chavez had not criticized foreign clergy. Roberto Micheletti Bain, president of the Honduran Congress, said of the cardinal that he is a "symbol for all Hondurans, and we are not going to allow anyone from the left or the right to attack Cardinal Rodriguez.” Furthermore, said Micheletti Bain, "We Hondurans, who believe firmly in God, should take strong positions because our Christian sentiments oblige us to do so,” Bain added.
Juan Orlando Hernandez, a representative in the Honduran Congress, condemned Chavez' statements, saying that they are “an offense against the entire Catholic people and obviously against a symbolic figure for all Hondurans.”
Martin Barillas is a former US diplomat and human rights observer who served in Latin America, Europe, and the US. He is Religion News editor for Spero News and blogs at HispanoBizantino .
Honduras demands apology from Venezuela