Chavez: Clinton thinks US owns the continent

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez scorns US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as an ancient thinker, charging her with interfering in Venezuelan domestic affairs.

“She still considers herself the imperial lady. She is behind the times,” Chavez said during his visit to Ecuador on Friday.

“She still thinks the United States is the owner of this continent,” he added.

Chavez made the remarks after Clinton criticized Caracas over the detention of television station owner Guillermo Zuloaga.

During a Latin American tour, Clinton said that the Venezuelan government is limiting freedom and should restore “full democracy.”

“A Venezuelan judge comes along and orders the detention of a criminal in Venezuela who owns a media outlet,” Chavez noted.

“And then they attack the government of Venezuela … for attacking press freedom, for attacking journalists and the news media – what cynicism. It’s the cynicism of the (US) empire.”

Attorney General Luisa Ortega said Zuloaga is charged with deliberately spreading false information and insulting Chavez at an Inter-American Press Association meeting in Aruba last weekend.