2006 Chávez speech at the United Nations

The Devil Has Been Here is a famous speech delivered on 20 September 2006 by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez to the United Nations General Assembly. It was a polemical critique of U.S. President George W. Bush, with particular focus on foreign policy. While the speech was received with sustained applause in the General Assembly, it was met with abrasive criticism in the United States.

Speech

Speaking one day after Bush addressed the same meeting of the General Assembly, Chavez announced "The devil came here yesterday, and it smells of sulfur still today, this table that I am now standing in front of." At that point, Chavez made the sign of the cross, positioned his hands as if praying, and looked briefly up to the ceiling. He continued "Yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, from this rostrum, the President of the United States, the gentleman to whom I refer as the devil, came here, talking as if he owned the world." Chávez also said that President Bush "...came [to the General Assembly] to share his nostrums to try to preserve the current pattern of domination, exploitation and pillage of the peoples of the world." Chávez began his talk by recommending Noam Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival: "It's an excellent book to help us understand what has been happening in the world throughout the 20th century, and what's happening now, and the greatest threat looming over our planet." Citing Chomsky's book, Chavez explained, "...the American empire is doing all it can to consolidate its system of domination. And we cannot allow them to do that. We cannot allow world dictatorship to be consolidated."

Reaction in Venezuela

A Zogby poll conducted in October 2006, a month after Chávez's speech, revealed that 36 percent of Venezuelans polled said the speech made them proud of Chávez as their president, while 23 percent said it made them ashamed. An additional 15 percent were indifferent, while 26 percent said they were either unfamiliar with the speech or unsure what to think about it.

Reaction of U.S. politicians

Many American politicians, from both houses of Congress, released a flurry of press releases in response to the statements Chávez made during his speech.

• Nancy Pelosi (D-California), the incoming Speaker of the House of Representatives (and an ardent critic of President Bush), called Chávez an "everyday thug" as opposed to the "modern day Simón Bolívar" that he "fancies himself to be". She also asserted that "Hugo Chávez abused the privilege that he had, speaking at the United Nations" and "he demeaned himself and he demeaned Venezuela."
• Representative Charles Rangel (D-New York) also said in a press release that "George Bush is the President of the United States and represents the entire country. Any demeaning public attack against him is viewed by Republicans and Democrats, and all Americans, as an attack on all of us".
• Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) called Chávez's comments "incendiary."
• Former U.S. President Bill Clinton called the "personal demonization" a "mistake" that only hurt Chávez and his country.

Responding to American political criticisms in the October 10, 2006 issue of Time magazine, Chávez insisted to Tim Padgett that he was not personally attacking Bush. He argued that he was merely reacting to what he perceived to be the "threat of a U.S. empire that uses the U.N. to justify its aggression against half the world. In Bush's speech to the U.N., he sounded as if he wants to be master of the world. I changed my original speech after reading this."

Reactions in other countries

Rafael Correa, then candidate for Ecuadorian president(and was indeed elected), said that Chavez's statement was a "insult to the devil because, although he's malicious, he's intelligent."

External link

• The original video recording of the speech on the UN Webcast Page. [1]