Stance regarding Chávez runs high in US presidential campaign

Republican candidate running for US President Mitt Romney slammed US President Barack Obama in a press release on Wednesday for having told a Latin American TV channel that the Venezuelan government is not a threat for the United States.

"It is a misguided, misdirected comment," Romney declared in a communiqué cited by AFP.

"The idea that this nation, this president, doesn't pose a national security threat is simply naive and an extraordinary admission on the part of this president to be completely out of touch with what is happening in Latin America," Romney said of Chavez.

Previously, Obama told América TV of Miami, "my sense is that what Mr. Chavez has done over the past several years has not had a serious national security impact on us."

According to Romney, "Hugo Chávez has protected drug kingpins; encouraged terrorist organizations which threaten our allies, such as Colombia; reinforced military links with Iran and helped it to elude sanctions, and welcome (Islamic movement) Hezbollah inside his country."