Venezuelan cardinal reacts to ‘enemy of the state’ charge

Caracas, Venezuela, Jan 29, 2009 / 13:26 pm

The Archbishop of Caracas, Cardinal Jorge Urosa Sabino, said Tuesday in an interview on Union Radio that people who have different opinions should not be labeled enemy of the state, and he called for respect and plurality from Venezuelan political authorities.

“One can have an ideological and political difference with somebody, but exposing the person to public mockery is not a good example for the Venezuelan people and is not something that we should do.”

“I think you can have a position, defend an idea without having to criticize another person and label them as enemies of the homeland. As if the people who have a different opinion on that matter were acting against Venezuela. This is not true,” the cardinal said.

“We urgently need to respect people, ideas, the opinions of others,” he added.

Cardinal Urosa rejected the accusation of President Chavez that the bishops “are meddling in politics.”  “We are talking about peace, about peaceful coexistence in society, about something as important as respecting the fundamental elements of the Venezuelan state in accord with the national constitution.”

“We are not meddling in partisan questions. We are defending the right of all Venezuelans to live in peace. That is the great vision we have from the social point of view,” the cardinal said.