Mr Chavez is losing more support every week
Relations between Venezuela's populist President Hugo Chavez and the country's dominant Roman Catholic Church have taken a new plunge. Cardinal Ignacio Velasco, rejected an invitation to talks with Mr Chavez at the presidential palace in Caracas on Tuesday.
Every day I turn another cheek - I have no cheeks left because every day there is a new insult
Cardinal Ignacio Velasco
The president had recently compared the church to a "tumour", saying it opposed his reforms without helping the country's poor. -
Mr Chavez now faces open opposition from the church in this predominantly Catholic country days after social unrest spilled into the first mass street demonstrations against his rule.
At the weekend, he launched a new attack on church leaders, accusing Cardinal Velasco and others of siding with his political opponents and Venezuela's former ruling class.
"They do not walk in the path of God, in the path of Christ," he said.
No more cheek-turning
The cardinal responded by saying it would be impossible to hold talks in the current climate:
"Discussion is not possible if we go in with our ears covered... with fire on our tongues," he said.
Mr Chavez considers himself a true Christian
He also hinted that the church would no longer tolerate the ex-paratrooper's constant barrage of abuse.
"Every day we turn another cheek. I have no cheeks left because every day there is a new insult," Cardinal Velasco said.
Mr Chavez is himself a practising Catholic and insists that his social reforms are Christian as they are aimed at helping the poor.
He further radicalised his government last week after protests against his "economic revolution" brought about tens of thousands of people onto the streets of the capital.
After Trade Minister Luis Miquilena, a leading moderate, deserted the cabinet, Mr Chavez promoted a controversial left-winger, Adina Bastidas, to the post.
In a new indication of his determination to pursue an independent foreign policy for his oil-rich state, Mr Chavez pledged support on Monday for Polisario rebels fighting Moroccan rule in Western Sahara.
He was speaking to Mohamed Abdelaziz, the Sahrawi rebels' president-in-waiting, in Caracas.