News in brief: I'm fighting off voodoo attacks, says Chavez

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela yesterday accused his enemies of using witches to attack him with black magic and voodoo.

"I've been told they had hired 85 witches who work with the devil," he said during his Hello President weekly radio and television show.

"The other day they left an animal in a corner of the Miraflores [presidential] palace. A dead animal, an ugly animal," the president said. He laughed loudly, adding: "I don't believe in this, what do you call it, voodoo . . . black magic.

"But just in case, I have this," and he held up a cross decorated with an image of the Virgin Mary.

"There is no witch with more power than this," he said of the religious icon, drawing cheers and laughter from supporters among the invited audience for the live broadcast of the show.

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