The celebrity U.S. Christian evangelical Pat Robertson apologised Wednesday for comments he made earlier in the week suggesting that the U.S. assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
“Is it right to call for assassination? No, and I apologise for that statement,” he said in a written statement.
Rev Robertson made the comments during Monday’s broadcast of his TV programme, “The 700 Club”. He said earlier on Wednesday, however, that he did not call for the assassination of the Venezuelan leader and that the media had taken his remarks out of context.
He said: “I didn’t say ‘assassination’. I said our special forces should ‘take him out’. And ‘take him out’ can be a number of things, including kidnapping; there are a number of ways to take out a dictator from power besides killing him.
“I was misinterpreted by the AP [Associated Press], but that happens all the time.”
Robertson said on the Monday broadcast that Chavez was a “terrific danger” determined to export Communism and Islamic extremism across the Americas.
He continued: “If he [Chavez] thinks we’re trying to assassinate him, I think we really ought to go ahead and do it. It’s a whole lot cheaper than starting a war.
“We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. “We don’t need another $200 billion war to get rid of one strong-arm dictator. It’s a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with.”
The TV evangelist’s comments have been met with widespread condemnation, particularly from Venezuelan officials. Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel accused Robertson of inciting violence and challenged the White House to take action against him.
The U.S. State Department said Tuesday that Robertson’s remarks were “inappropriate”. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that Robertson had the right of any private citizen to say whatever he wants but added that the broadcaster’s remarks “do not represent the views of the United States”, reported Assist News.
