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Venezuela’s Chavez says “gringos go to hell”

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday told the U.S. government to “go to hell” after it questioned his plan to seek special powers to legislate by decree as part of his self-styled socialist revolution.

Chavez, a Cuba ally re-elected by a landslide in December, this month launched a broad campaign to consolidate power by nationalizing key industries, seeking expanded executive powers and pushing for unlimited presidential re-election.

A State Department spokesman on Friday said Chavez’s reform plans have caused “some concern,” describing the proposal allowing presidents to rule by decree as “a bit odd” in a democracy.

“That is a sacrosanct legal authority of Venezuela, go to hell gringos! Go home! Go home!” Chavez said during his weekly Sunday broadcast. “We’re free here, and every day we’ll be more free.”

Venezuela’s legislature this week is expected to fully approve the Enabling Law that would give Chavez 18 months to decree legislation.

The former soldier has said he would use the expanded powers to end the autonomy of the nation’s central bank, create a national police force and boost state control over the nation’s oil industry, which provides around 11 percent of U.S. oil imports.

State Department spokesman Tom Casey on Friday said the legislation by decree proposal was “a sovereign right of Venezuela but certainly … a bit odd in terms of a democratic system.”

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