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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Naomi Campbell interviews 'rebel angel' Hugo Chavez |
| 2008-01-07 |
| Never did like the bi+ch. She should just shut up and keep mopping in her high heels. And nothing else. >:-} British supermodel Naomi Campbell has interviewed Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, describing him as a "rebel angel" who is unafraid to speak his mind but poses no threat to democracy. Campbell was granted an audience with the outspoken left-wing leader as part of her new brief as contributing editor for British men's lifestyle magazine GQ, interviewing leading figures from politics, sport and entertainment. She wrote in the article, out Thursday but extracts of which were released in advance, that she was aware her choice of subject would be controversial, but insisted she did not go to Venezuela for political reasons. "I'd always heard Hugo Chavez was a people's president and I wanted to see if that was true... I didn't want to judge Chavez, or probe him for his political views, even though he gave them freely," she wrote. "I simply went to interview Hugo Chavez the man," she added. The catwalk star also said she wanted to get him to donate to the Nelson Mandela Foundation, which she represents, and see some of his social programmes. Campbell said the Venezuelan leader -- who in November was told to "shut up" by Spain's King Juan Carlos I -- was forthright and "fearless, but not threatening or unreasonable". Venezuelans also seemed happier than her last visit 10 years ago for a Sports Illustrated magazine photoshoot, she added. "I hope Venezuela's relations with America will improve in the immediate future. Whatever the future holds, for me his role will always be that of a rebel angel," she said. During her time in Venezuela, she was treated to Chavez's familiar rhetoric against the United States and in particular President George W. Bush. Chavez -- who once described Bush as "the devil" during a United Nations General Assembly address -- said the US president was "completely crazy" and Condoleezza Rice was "secretary of state of a genocidal government". Asked if he thought Bush wanted to kill him, he replied: "I think he does. Him and his companions." Elsewhere, Chavez found time to defend Venezuela's human rights record and vaunt his country's oil reserves, but also gave his views on less weighty matters like fashion, pop music and the British royal family. Cuba's Fidel Castro was the world's most stylish leader, he said ("His uniform is impeccable. His boots are polished. His beard is elegant"), he was aware of the newly-reformed Spice Girls and admired Britain's Prince Charles. He also refused to rule out following Russian President Vladimir Putin's example and posing for topless photographs. "Why not? Touch my muscles," he reportedly told the supermodel. |
| Posted by:gorb |
| #6 |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-01-07 16:26 |
| #5 Well, Whomong Guelph4611, what can one say if it is consentual. |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2008-01-07 12:17 |
| #4 gag. I can't help but thinking that Castro (and now Chavez) have been laundering money through Hollywood and the Cult of Celebrity for as long as I've been alive. And in order to stay on the pedestal, the Sean Penns and Namoi C's have get on their knees and ... |
| Posted by: Whomong Guelph4611 2008-01-07 11:56 |
| #3 A sycophant fawning to a narcissist. Nice. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-01-07 11:26 |
| #2 The fact that she's a dipstick model best known for abusing her personal assistants makes her overqualified to be a journalist. |
| Posted by: charger 2008-01-07 10:32 |
| #1 Ha ha ha. Another triumph for journalism! |
| Posted by: gromky 2008-01-07 10:28 |