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Chavez says Castro predicted slide of US dollar
(Associated Press WorldStream Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) CARACAS, Venezuela_Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Thursday that his close friend Fidel Castro predicted the fall of the U.S. dollar.
Chavez said Cuba's 81-year-old former president mentioned the prediction some time ago before signs of a weakening dollar had begun to appear.
"Fidel told me one day, 'Chavez, it won't be long before the crisis of the dollar occurs,'" the Venezuelan leader said in a televised speech.
Chavez said Castro handed him a document he had written during one of their meetings in Havana that said "the United States has bought half the world with paper bills that don't have real backing. ... The world can't sustain that bubble."
"There it is, the crisis of the dollar," Chavez said.
Chavez called the United States' economic woes a "terrible economic crisis" and noted that some Americans are losing their jobs. He also suggested that much worse is to come.
"I think if things continue on like this in the United States, we'll have to start preparing to receive the refugees here," Chavez said. "I hope that doesn't happen, but we may have to receive refugees from the United States here _ poverty."
The U.S. remains the leading buyer of Venezuelan oil, but Chavez is seeking to rally opposition to Washington's stances, from free-market economic policies to the war in Iraq.
His opponents accuse him of using his perpetual conflict with the U.S. to stir up nationalistic sentiment and draw away attention from domestic problems including rampant crime, soaring inflation and sporadic shortages of some basic foods.
Chavez also said he disagrees with the United States on its definition of terrorism.
"Now the oppressors call violence by the oppressed 'terrorism,'" Chavez said, after condemning the war in Iraq. "The oppressors' violence is justified according to them. It's necessary to save the world. And violence by the oppressed, they call it terrorism."
The U.S. State Department, in turn, has accused Venezuela of not cooperating fully in anti-terrorism and anti-drug efforts.
Chavez spoke at the opening of a Caracas art exhibit honoring Mexican revolutionary hero Emiliano Zapata, who was killed in 1919.
Among those attending were descendants of Zapata including his 93-year-old daughter, Ana Maria Zapata, who presented Chavez with a medal. Chavez also received a Mexican sombrero, which he donned for a salute.
His speech ranged widely from his hope for a "true revolution" in Latin America to his recent spat with Spanish King Juan Carlos, who told him to shut up at a summit in Chile in November. Chavez called it "the imperial shout."
Copyright ? 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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