Venezuela opposition seethes after OAS envoy's bullet comment

Source: Reuters

Mocking remarks by Venezuela's envoy to the Organization of American States suggesting a bullet would pass easily through the "empty" head of an opposition sympathizer have set off a social media firestorm.

Veteran diplomat Roy Chaderton made the controversial comment on state TV earlier this week when discussing how projectiles did not distinguish among political colors.

"Snipers aim for heads ... a squalid (opposition) head cannot be distinguished from a 'Chavista' head - except in its content," Chaderton said, using terms that became common during President Hugo Chavez's polarized 1999-2013 rule.

"The sound produced in a squalid head is like a click because the skull is empty. So it goes through fast. But you only know that after the projectile passes," he added on an irreverent, late-night chat show hosted by young presenters.

Though strong and often offensive comments have become commonplace on both sides of Venezuela's political divide in recent years, Chaderton's remarks touched a raw nerve given recent deaths around political protests.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/11/us-venezuela-diplomat-idUSKBN0M726G20150311