Venezuela's Chavez would 'vote for Obama'
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says that if he were a US citizen, he would vote for President Barack Obama in the presidential election.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says that if he were a US citizen, he would vote for President Barack Obama in the November 6 presidential election – and if Obama were Venezuelan, he’d vote for Chavez.
The firebrand leftist president is in a tight re-election race of his own against opposition candidate Henrique Capriles in a vote to be held on October 7.
“If I were from the United States, I’d vote for Obama,” Chavez told the privately-held Televen television network on Sunday.
If Obama came from a working-class Caracas neighbourhood, he would “vote for Chavez”, the Venezuelan president claimed.
“Obama recently said something very rational and just: Venezuela is not a threat to the interests of the United States,” Chavez said, calling the US president a “nice guy”.
Despite the warm words, the United States and Venezuela have had rocky relations for years, and the two countries have not had ambassadors in their respective capitals since 2010.