Jul 31, 2005 / 22:00 pm
On Sunday, Venezuela’s Cardinal Rosalio Castillo, who has been a vocal critic of that country’s president, Hugo Chavez, called the leader a “paranoid dictator” and said there is no democracy in Venezuela.
In an interview Sunday, the Cardinal told the colombian newspaper El Tiempo, that Chavez’s government is despotic and accused him of rounding up some 100 political prisoners and torturing some.
Last month, Cardinal Castillo said that Chavez was gaining too much power and becoming a dictator. In turn, Chavez blasted the Cardinal calling him a “bandit” who has “the devil in him.”
Chavez insists he is a democratic leader and is widely favored for re-election next year.