Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is defending the nation of Iran, saying that it is being attacked unfairly for its nuclear program. In a move that puts the president even closer to an “enemy” of the U.S., Chavez complimented Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution in a press conference this past Monday in which he met with the President of Iran, Mahmud Ahmadineyad. Chavez also used the opportunity, in his tangential way, to expand on atrocities committed by the U.S. and Europe over the ages:

The Venezuelan leader harshly criticized U.S. policy towards Iran, and accused “American imperialism” of attempting to present Iranians as “some barbarians who are looking to create atomic bombs.”

“Barbarians are those who occupied and destroyed Iraq…Barbarians are those who strike out againt the Palestinian people…Barbarians are those who left Europe to destroy our civilization in Latin America,” said Chavez.

“Barbarians are those who destroyed the thousands-year-old Inca civilication…Barbarians are the genocidal people that destroyed the Aztec and Maya civilizations,” he added.

Somehow I don’t think that little speech will do much for Venezuela’s relationship with Spain, already chilly due to the fact that Spain’s foreign minister, Miguel Moratinos, dared express “concern” for the RCTV situation.

Via / El Universal (Venezuela)