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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Chavez to expel foreign critics | Chavez to expel foreign critics |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has vowed to expel foreigners who publicly criticise him or his government. | Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has vowed to expel foreigners who publicly criticise him or his government. |
| "No foreigner can come here to attack us. Anyone who does must be removed from this country," he said during his weekly TV and radio programme. | "No foreigner can come here to attack us. Anyone who does must be removed from this country," he said during his weekly TV and radio programme. |
| Mr Chavez also ordered officials to monitor statements made by international figures in Venezuela. | Mr Chavez also ordered officials to monitor statements made by international figures in Venezuela. |
| His comments came shortly after a senior Mexican politician publicly criticised the Venezuelan government. | His comments came shortly after a senior Mexican politician publicly criticised the Venezuelan government. |
| "How long are we going to allow a person - from any country in the world - to come to our own house to say there's a dictatorship here, that the president is a tyrant, and nobody does anything about it?" Mr Chavez said during his "Hello, President" broadcast on Sunday. | "How long are we going to allow a person - from any country in the world - to come to our own house to say there's a dictatorship here, that the president is a tyrant, and nobody does anything about it?" Mr Chavez said during his "Hello, President" broadcast on Sunday. |
| "It cannot be allowed - it is a question of national dignity," he said. | "It cannot be allowed - it is a question of national dignity," he said. |
| He did not mention any names, but his comments came on the same weekend that Manuel Espino, president of Mexico's ruling National Action Party, criticised Mr Chavez at a pro-democracy conference in Caracas. | He did not mention any names, but his comments came on the same weekend that Manuel Espino, president of Mexico's ruling National Action Party, criticised Mr Chavez at a pro-democracy conference in Caracas. |
| Mr Espino told the conference a plan by Mr Chavez to end term limits on Venezuela's presidency were a threat to democracy. | |
| He accused Mr Chavez of trying to extend his rule indefinitely with the proposed constitutional reform, which would let Mr Chavez run for the presidency again in 2012. | |
| Mr Chavez said the reform package would increase the influence of local community councils and student groups as part of his "21st-Century socialism" revolution. | |
| He is due to present the proposal to Venezuela's National Assembly next month. The assembly consists solely of politicians who back the president. | |
| Mr Chavez was re-elected to a third term last year with support from the millions of impoverished Venezuelans who back his social development policies. |