Venezuelan Chavez wants to be world's anti-US voice

CARACAS, Venezuela, Sep 22 (Reuters) Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez staked a claim to be the world's leading anti-American voice by branding US President George W Bush as the devil in a speech to the United Nations this week.

Chavez, who uses anti-Bush vitriol at home daily, calculated that tapping into anti-US feeling worldwide could help win Venezuela a seat on the UN Security Council, despite US objections.

The self-styled socialist revolutionary, who says he is forming alliances with mainly poor countries to counterbalance the world's superpower, avoided calling Bush an ''asshole'' as he has done in front of his own people.

Sniffing disdainfully, Chavez complained the podium still reeked of sulfur after Bush spoke there a day earlier.

His attack drew laughter and applause from heads of state and ambassadors at the annual UN General Assembly. In the United States, even Bush's political opponents rallied to the president's defense.

''Even if he had not got laughs and applause, he got what he wanted -- attention,'' said a Western diplomat in Caracas.

The United States dismissed the speech as a ''comic strip,'' but says Chavez is a destabilizing, anti-democratic influence, using oil wealth to buy arms and cozy up to dictators.

Despite accusing the United States of seeking to oust him, Chavez has never stopped Venezuela's supply of crude to the United States, its biggest customer.

His performance at the United Nations and other events in New York, including one where he called Bush ''an insecure, sick, but dangerous alcoholic,'' capped a months-long campaign.

Expanding his role beyond Latin America, Chavez has modeled himself after Cuban leader Fidel Castro and may have the charisma to deliver his message more effectively than other US foes, such as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

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