Chavez calls Bush 'devil' at U.N.

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NEW YORK -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez yesterday used his annual address to the United Nations to call President Bush "the devil himself" and "world dictator," topping the rhetorical blast of his Iranian counterpart the previous day.

Echoing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's criticism of the current U.N. structure, Mr. Chavez said American dominance and a Security Council with veto-holding permanent members had made the world organization "worthless."

"The hegemonic pretensions of the American empire are placing at risk the very existence of the human species," Mr. Chavez said.

"The devil himself is right in the house. The devil came here yesterday, ... talking as if he owned the world," Mr. Chavez said. Then he crossed himself and added: "It still smells of sulfur today."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declined "to dignify" the Venezuelan leader's comment, saying only, "I think it's not becoming for a head of state."

John R. Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, called the remarks a "comic-strip approach to international affairs."

In Washington, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said the Venezuelan people should "determine whether President Chavez represented them in a way they would have liked to have seen."

The "devil" comment elicited some giggles among the audience of presidents, prime ministers and diplomats from around the world, and Mr. Chavez's speech won light applause, although no one publicly sided with him. Still, it was not clear how much support his argument gathered among delegates.

Several diplomats said they were not surprised by Mr. Chavez's style and did not take him seriously. Others noted that the issue of U.N. reform deserved attention, but there are more appropriate ways to express one's opinion about Security Council members.

"I don't think anybody in this room could defend the system," Mr. Chavez said. "Let's be honest. The U.N. system born after the Second World War collapsed. It's worthless."