'Hurricane Hugo' Chavez won't shut up on tour

Reuters

OUTSPOKEN: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez continues to raise eyebrows on his tour of Europe and the Middle East. His remarks against Spanish leaders left him nicknamed Hurricane Hugo.

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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will not keep quiet on a tour this week of the Middle East and Europe despite being deep into a diplomatic dispute with Spain after his diatribes against the ex-colonial power.

Told to "shut up" by Spain's king at a weekend summit in Chile for calling ex-Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar a fascist, Chavez has done the opposite, launching hours of attacks against Madrid and threatening diplomatic and business ties.

Back home, he leaves a polarized country in the middle of a passionate and sometimes violent campaign for a December 2 referendum over the Cuba ally's proposal to change the constitution to let him run for the presidency indefinitely.

Chavez, who officials say averages 40 hours a week on TV, acknowledges he cannot keep his mouth closed and his tour gives some respite to those weary Venezuelans who made the king's reprimand their mobile phone ringtone.

But on a trip to Saudi Arabia, Iran, France, and possibly Portugal, the self-styled revolutionary also has a lot to say.

As leader of the No 4 US oil supplier, he takes to an Opec summit in Riyadh on Friday a plan to revamp the group into a geopolitical power that subsidizes crude for poor nations while keeping the price at a $US100 a barrel for rich countries.

In Paris, Chavez wants to show President Nicolas Sarkozy proof a French captive is alive, displaying his statesmanship as the meditator with rebels from neighbouring Colombia over the release of a group of hostages that also includes Americans.

The man who called President George W Bush the devil at the United Nations, is also unlikely to duck a fight with Spain on a trip that takes him to its borders.

And with a stop in fellow US antagonist Iran, "Hurricane Hugo" – as he is dubbed in foreign media – will no doubt leave headlines and controversy in his wake.

"Nobody can expect us not to say who we are, not to say what we feel and not to say what we want," Chavez said.

Chavez's hero is Simon Bolivar, the Venezuelan who ejected Spain from South America in the 19th century.

A socialist who calls Cuban leader Fidel Castro his mentor, Chavez sees himself as a modern-day liberator ridding the region and beyond of "imperialism" and capitalism.

Political analysts say his bark is worse than his bite.

But ruling atop some of the largest oil reserves outside the Middle East and few signs the fragmented opposition can stop him from consolidating his power, one of the world's leading anti-US voices is increasingly difficult to ignore.

Washington complains he is a destabilising, anti-democratic influence in a region tilting to the left, especially as he puts his money where his mouth is with cheap energy deals for poor countries such as Cuba, Bolivia and Nicaragua.

If he can resolve scheduling problems and go to Portugal, he will celebrate an accord to supply a third of the Spanish neighbour's oil needs.

Chavez does not always follow through on his rhetoric, such as when he pledged seven months ago to leave the IMF.

And critics complain the flap with Spain is a smokescreen, eclipsing debate over his complex constitutional plan that would also allow him to control currency reserves and appoint favourites over regional elected officials.

Still, his threat to scrutinize the books of Spanish banks in Venezuela worries investors who have seen him nationalize billions of dollars worth of foreign assets this year.

"Mixing bilateral political issues with the local operations of private companies. . . establishes a very negative precedent," Alberto Ramos of Goldman Sachs said.

"This contributes to deteriorate even further the already-challenging business environment," he added.

- Reuters