Venezuela's Ambassador to Washington D.C., Bernardo Alvarez Herrera, has issued a statement on the Robertson debacle...

Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez Herrera: We would like thank the American people for the support they have offered us in the wake of the Reverend Pat Robertson's call for the murder of our President, Hugo Chavez.

The messages of support have flooded our Embassy's electronic and voice mails.

We are very disappointed with Pat Robertson's statements over the Christian Broadcast Network. Mr. Robertson is of course no ordinary private citizen. He was a candidate for the GOP's Presidential nomination in 1992. The organization that Mr. Robertson leads ... the Christian Coalition ... claims nearly 2 million members and has a multi-million dollar a year budget. In 2000 it was credited with helping George W. Bush win the important South Carolina primary and catapulting him to the nomination of his party for President. Mr. Robertson has been one of this president's staunchest allies ... his statement demands the strongest condemnation by the White House.

Mr. Robertson's call that US government covert operatives murder President Hugo Chavez is a call to terrorism. His call that president Bush violently impose the outdated Monroe Doctrine on Venezuela is a call for American intervention in the sovereign affairs of our democratic country.

The United States may not permit its citizens to use its territory and airwaves to incite terrorism abroad and the murder of a democratically-elected President.

Venezuela demands that the US abide by international and domestic law and respect our country and its President.

Pat Robertson's statement must be condemned in the strongest terms by the Bush administration ... and we are concerned about the safety of our President.

It is essential that the US government guarantee his safety when he visits this country in the future ... including his scheduled visits to the United Nations in New York.

From the messages we have received, it is clear that Pat Robertson does not speak for Christians in the United States ... nor even for the Christian Coalition ... when he calls for the assassination of our President.