Noam Chomsky denounces old friend Hugo Chávez for 'assault' on democracy

Renowned American intellectual accuses the Venezuelan leader of concentrating too much power in his own hands

• Rory Carroll in Caracas
• The Observer, Sunday 3 July 2011
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Hugo Chávez rides a horse during his weekly broadcast to his country. He has gone on television to call for judge María Lourdes Afiuni to be jailed.

Hugo Chávez has long considered Noam Chomsky one of his best friends in the west. He has basked in the renowned scholar's praise for Venezuela's socialist revolution and echoed his denunciations of US imperialism.

Venezuela's president, who hasrevealed that he has had surgery in Cuba to remove a cancerous tumour, turned one of Chomsky's books into an overnight bestseller after brandishing it during a UN speech. He hosted Chomsky in Caracas with smiles and pomp. Earlier this year Chávez even suggested Washington make Chomsky the US ambassador to Venezuela.

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