Jesse Jackon visits Venezuela

Jesse just loves to hobnob with leaders who oppose America. But it gets his name in the news.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

The Rev. Jesse Jackson offered support for President Hugo Chavez on Sunday, saying a call for his assassination by a U.S. religious broadcaster was a criminal act and that Washington and Venezuela should work out differences through diplomacy.

The U.S. civil rights leader condemned last week's suggestion by Pat Robertson that American agents should kill the leftist Venezuelan leader, calling the conservative commentator's statements "immoral" and "illegal." Jackson said the U.S. government must choose "diplomacy over any threats of sabotage or isolation or assassination."

"What we must work on is a good-neighbor policy," Jackson said Sunday in a telephone interview with the Chicago Sun-Times. "We and Venezuela need each other. We should focus on a mutually beneficial relationship and reduce the rhetoric that is putting anguish, anxiety and anger between us."

Chavez, a self-styled "revolutionary,'' has often accused President Bush's government of planning to overthrow him. He warned Friday that some American leaders have considered killing him. U.S. officials have repeatedly denied such claims.

Robertson's comments last week have increased already-tense relations between Caracas and Washington. He called for Chavez's assassination on his TV show "The 700 Club," saying the United States should "take him out" because the Venezuelan leader poses a danger to the region.

Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition of America and a supporter of Bush's re-election bid, later apologized.

Jackson arrived Saturday for a visit along with members of his Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. In a speech to Venezuela's National Assembly, Jackson said every country has a right to self-determination, and touched on subjects from poverty to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s role in the civil rights struggle of American blacks.

Jackson later met and shook hands with Chavez during the Venezuelan leader's weekly radio and television program.

"Reverend Jackson, you can be sure that we will continue fighting for the ideas of Martin Luther King, for Christ the redeemer's idea of loving one another and building a society of equals through our peaceful and democratic revolution," said Chavez.