On the August 22, 2005 broadcast of the 700 Club, Pat Robertson, who calls himself a man of God, advocated assassinating Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias by the C.I.A. His exact words, as related by Media Matters:

ROBERTSON: There was a popular coup that overthrew him [Chavez]. And what did the United States State Department do about it? Virtually nothing. And as a result, within about 48 hours that coup was broken; Chavez was back in power, but we had a chance to move in. He has destroyed the Venezuelan economy, and he's going to make that a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism all over the continent.You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. And I don't think any oil shipments will stop. But this man is a terrific danger and the United ... This is in our sphere of influence, so we can't let this happen. We have the Monroe Doctrine, we have other doctrines that we have announced. And without question, this is a dangerous enemy to our south, controlling a huge pool of oil, that could hurt us very badly. 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, you know, 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.

Robertson is a liar and a scoundrel talking about the "doctrine of assassination" as though it was just another theological proposition, up there along with the virgin birth and the Trinity. Has the man no decency? Does he have any respect at all for the truth? Apparently not.

Chavez is the legally elected president of Venezuela. He won a recall vote last year by a landslide in an election that foreign observers pronounced honest and fair. Chavez has won elections by a wide margin since 1998, even though he has been opposed by the commercial media the entire time.

The coup of which Robertson speaks was a typical South American plutocratic coup, whose purpose was to restore the old economic regime in which the few were fabulously wealthy and the rest of the nation was dirt poor. They were resentful because Chavez cracked down on PDVSA, the Venezuelan national oil corporation and forced it to pay its profits to the government instead of concealing it overseas.

But what really set off the upper crust was Chavez's decision to direct a large portion of the nation's fabulous oil wealth to the welfare of the entire nation rather than the tiny minority that previously had monopolized the benefits. He was building schools and hospitals, the latter staffed with Cuban physicians payed for by Venezuelan oil. For the first time, the average Venezuelan had hope that he or she might rise out of poverty and lead a decent life.

That could not be allowed to continue. Who knows what might happen if the regimes in South and Central America actually looked out after their own people's welfare? There wouldn't be enough Contras to go around. The sweatshops might have to start paying living wages. If thing really got bad, the drug trade might dry up, a disaster for law enforcement and the prison industry. The spectre of the job market being flooded by unemployed former narcs, paramilitaries, drug lords, SWAT teams and prison guards must have kept our nation's leaders up at night in a cold sweat.

As soon as Carmona, the new "president" assumed office, he abolished Parliament and the Supreme Court. He didn't just suspend the constitution; he abolished it, as well. The Bush administration applauded the return of democracy and quickly recognized the new government. It was a bit premature, however. Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets and for once, the military refused to cooperate with the coup and so Chavez was restored to his elected office in a couple of days. The coup was very likely backed by the CIA.

Robertson advocates conquest and murder for oil and U.S. hegemony over South America. He is angry that a popular, nationalist, dark-skinned politician is actually managing to improve the lives of all Venezuelans, rather than channeling all that wealth to the elite that, along with the giant U.S. corporations, previously appropriated it all for themselves. If you don't believe that's what he says, listen to Robertson say it.

After such viciousness, can anyone believe his claim to be a man of God? A follower of Christ? The answer is obvious.

For an alternative view of Venezuela, read The Narcosphere, VHeadline.com, and The Narco News Bulletin. They are not the final word on Venezuela or South America, of course, but much of their reporting comes from reporters on the spot and they bring a fresh breath of air into what has up to now been a desert of corporate propaganda.