CARACAS, Venezuela – President Hugo Chávez accused Cardinal Jorge Urosa Sabino of being a “troglodyte” for supposedly “instigating fear in Venezuelans about communism.” Chávez said during a speech at the country’s National Assembly on Monday that Urosa does not deserve to be a Cardinal. “As long as we have that kind of bishop here, we feel far from the Catholic hierarchy,” Chávez said. Urosa Sabino recently said that Venezuela is on the way to becoming a communist nation under Chávez, following the precepts of the Soviet Union. “Chávez’s words against the Cardinal show desperation and a tactic that consists primarily of insulting,” Monsignor Baltazar Porras, vice president of the Venezuelan Episcopal Union (CEV), said in a statement. “Chavez should tackle violence, poverty and corruption,” Porras said. [El Universal.com (Venezuela); 05/07/2010; El Nacional (Venezuela); 05/07/2010]