What does Imam Ayatollah Khamenei have to say about Hugo Chavez and Venezuela?

On July 28, the birth anniversary of the Bolivarian revolutionary, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela,  khamenei.ir publishes segments of Aytollah Khamenei’s speech where he makes reference to Chavez, the late president of Venezuela:

Looking back throughout history, one can predict what the future may bring, in the case of some world events. For instance, right now in Venezuela, the main problem they have against this gentleman, Mr. Chavez, is that he does not surrender to the US. Chavez is a friend and an admirer of Fidel Castro. In a sense he is not a lefty; he runs his country like many other places in the world; he simply refuses to surrender to the US. Observe all the problems they have created for him. How did they create these problems? They created them through an influential presence of US or semi-US capital in Venezuela. That is to say, the influential presence of capital in key areas became harmful and this is an exemplary lesson.

Statements made during a meeting with IRIB officials: February 04, 2003

Today, thanks to Islam, the Holy Quran and the revelation that came to our Holy Prophet (s.w.a.), our country is moving towards a great transformation. The Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) was the peak of human knowledge. He was told in a revelation, “And say, Oh my Lord, advance me in knowledge'” [The Holy Quran, 20: 114]. He was asked to seek knowledge, through God, more than before. Therefore, why should we be disappointed about the future? Should we be disappointed just because others play down the value of our products? Well, it is clear that the enemy plays down the value of our goods and products. The best way to manipulate and enslave a person is to suggest to them that they have no refuge. The best way to achieve this purpose is to say to them that they have no refuge, that they are useless and that they do not have any option so that they are forced to place themselves under the umbrella of this power.

They have done the same to us during the past 150 years. They humiliated Islam, our past, our cultural legacies, our religious and national values, our nationality and everything that we had. The westerners who wanted to dominate the world humiliated all civilizations and destroyed many of them. During the time of my presidency, the president of Peru said to me that they had recently found the signs of a very old civilization in their country. This was while they used to think for many centuries that they had no history at all. Since the time the Americans began ruling over the United States – in different forms – they decided to turn South America into their backyard and to prevent everyone from interfering in the affairs of South America. They have said and are saying this openly.

A large country like Brazil or other South American countries are only allowed to move under America’s umbrella. If they want to adopt a different course of action in terms of political orientations, they become like today’s Venezuela. You can see what disasters the Americans are creating for Chavez because his orientations are a bit different from those of the Americans. From the beginning, the Americans considered South America as their backyard and they confronted any movement whatsoever. One of the ways to achieve their goal was to instill the idea into the minds of South American countries that they have no past and no history and that they have been a bunch of savages from the beginning. Are the measures that the Americans have adopted not oppressive? The Americans are very cruel. The ruling system of America is the manifestation of oppression. Cruel acts like what they have done in Abu Ghraib prison and the massacres in Fallujah, Kufa and many other places are the manifestation of very deep and vast oppression. They are like boils that erupt on a body, showing that it is suffering from a serious disease.

Statement made in Meeting with Officials and Outstanding Personalities of Hamedan Province; Jul 9, 2004