Hugo Chavez accuses U.S. of using weapon to cause Haiti quake

Several media outlets have reported Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accusing the United States of causing the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti, which killed possibly 200,000 people. Other media dispute the report.

Last week, Digital Journal reported that the Venezuelan President accused the United States of using Haiti’s earthquake as a pretext to occupy the Caribbean country, and since then the US has deployed thousands of troops to the region to bring law and order. Media reports claim Chavez's state "mouthpiece" ViVe TV is blaming the US for causing the 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti as part of testing a “tectonic weapon” that can cause eco-type disasters, according to Russia Today. The information was apparently gathered by Russia's North Fleet, FOX News says. The Latin American leader added that the US should “stop playing God.” The TV report said these “weapon earthquakes” would eventually be used against Iran and be taken over by the US military. It goes on to say these weapons can alter the climate and set off earthquakes and volcanoes remotely through the use of electromagnetic waves. Although news is gaining attention around the world, its credibility has yet to be verified. Some critics wonder how a state TV claim is being tied to Hugo Chavez. Press TV reports the Venezuelan media are reporting the earthquake may be associated with the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP), which has been accused of generating violent and disastrous changes in climate. HAARP has been met with controversy since the mid-1990s when the State Duma of Russia issued a press release written by international affairs and defense communities on HAARP and signed by 90 deputies: “The U.S. is creating new integral geophysical weapons that may influence the near-Earth medium with high-frequency radio waves ... The significance of this qualitative leap could be compared to the transition from cold steel to firearms, or from conventional weapons to nuclear weapons. This new type of weapons differs from previous types in that the near-Earth medium becomes at once an object of direct influence and its component.” In 1997, US Secretary of Defense William Cohen also expressed concern over such eco-terrorism “whereby they can alter the climate, set off earthquakes, volcanoes remotely through the use of electromagnetic waves." However, the U.S. government claims HAARP’s primary objective is to analyze and investigate the Earth’s ionosphere and the possibility of developing technology for communications and surveillance purposes.