Hugo Chavez, in London as a guest of Ken Livingstone, is shocked into silence – for a moment:
Mr Chavez’s news conference with Mayor Ken Livingstone seemed to be all about fighting “American imperialism”. Even talk about tackling traffic congestion somehow ended in a dig at the “American way of life”.
His praise for the sun-lit City Hall contrasted with remarks about New York’s twin towers, which he said “consumed more electricity than several African countries”.
A skilled orator who is known for his marathon TV speeches, Mr Chavez becomes even more animated when he starts talking about the Bush administration.
So, when a journalist from the BBC’s Spanish-American service asked him whether he was behaving a bit like his arch-enemy George W Bush by taking a “you’re with us or against us” attitude, his pause electrified the audience.
As the guests – many from the UK groups which have enthusiastically expressed their support for him – held their breath, Mr Chavez looked truly aghast.
“It is the first time I have been offended this way in public – to be compared to the biggest perpetrator of genocide the world has known,” he said in a low voice.
Ken wasn’t arguing:
Livingstone, standing next to the radical Venezuelan leader, said: ‘I sometimes have views on George Bush – not too dissimilar from yours.’
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