Opinion
- Editorial
Jamaica Observer:
President Chavez and diplomacy
Editorial
Very
few people will disagree that the United States
president, Mr George W Bush, has not endeared himself
to the world since he sent American troops into
Iraq on the basis of a lie.
In
fact, since that time, President Bush and his Cabinet
have, by their actions and pronouncements in Washington's
war on terror, seriously eroded the goodwill and
monumental respect that America had enjoyed for
many years.
Atrocities at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and
the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba have led
some world leaders to question whether America has
any moral authority to criticise and condemn rogue
governments.
Indeed,
one senior clergyman, Britain's Archbishop of Canterbury
Rowan Williams, earlier this year described the
Guantanamo prison as an extraordinary anomaly.
He also said that the prison camp has set a dangerous
precedent because "any message given, that
any state can just override some of the basic habeas
corpus-type provisions, is going to be very welcome
to tyrants elsewhere in the world, now and in the
future".
While
we share Archbishop Williams' concern, we do not
believe that criticism of President Bush should
descend to a personal level, as was done by Venezuela's
President Hugo Chavez at the United Nations General
Assembly in New York on Wednesday.
President Chavez, in what has been described as
an impassioned address, called President Bush "the
devil" and basically berated the American president
for, as he put it, "talking as if he were the
owner of the world".
We
have no reason to believe that President Chavez
misspoke. For there is no love lost between both
men, and President Chavez has, in the past, never
resiled from uttering acidic criticisms of his adversaries.
We
are told that he once blasted oil executives for
living in "luxury chalets where they perform
orgies drinking whisky". Even church leaders
in his country have felt the sting of his tongue
as he said that "they do not walk in. the path
of Christ".
He
is also reported to have accused journalists of
being in the pay of reactionaries whenever they
reported discontent with his rule.
Certainly, in his ongoing verbal joust with the
Bush Administration, President Chavez will most
likely feel justified in his personal attack on
President Bush. For Washington has been very strident
in its criticism of the Venezuelan government.
However,
we expect that all human beings, even when they
hold diametrically opposing views, will exercise
diplomacy when they speak about each other, and
especially when they do so on world platforms.
Given
President Chavez's personality and his passionate
dislike for President Bush, we do not expect him
to withdraw his statement. Neither do we expect
that he will admit that he was wrong and that he
set a bad example for the people he leads.
That is, indeed sad.
The
Jamaica Observer
Friday, September 22, 2006
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