Stephen Lendman ~ The whole world knows America threatens humanity. Few public officials openly admit what’s well known.

Hugo Chavez courageously spoke forthrightly about threatening US imperialism.

In 2006, he addressed General Assembly members the day after George Bush.

“The devil came here yesterday, and it smell of sulfur still today,” he said.

“Yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, from this rostrum, the President of the United States, the gentleman to whom I refer as the devil, came here, talking as if he owned the world.”

He “came to share his nostrums to try to preserve the current pattern of domination, exploitation and pillage of the peoples of the world.”

Few leaders have the courage to speak this forthrightly. Doing so made Chavez special.

Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino spoke candidly with Sputnik News.

He called Obama’s executive order declaring Venezuela a threat to US national security “a decree that in no way favors good relations between countries on the same continent.”

Latin and Central America no longer comprise Washington’s “back yard.” Those days are over. Continue reading →