Ozzie Guillen On Hugo Chavez: Does Marlins Manager Contradict Earlier Statement On Venezuelan President? (VIDEO)

The Miami Marlins announced on Tuesday that manager Ozzie Guillen has been suspended for five games due to controversial comments about Fidel Castro.

Guillen apologized for his remarks during a press conference in Miami, answering several questions from the media after his opening remarks. During the media session, Guillen also discussed his feelings about Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, another polarizing political figure in Latin America.

"I'd rather be dead than vote for Chavez," he said in Spanish.

This remark is not the first time that Chavez has been discussed by Guillen, who was born in Venezuela in 1964. After managing the Chicago White Sox to a World Series title in 2005, Guillen took photographs holding the Venezuelan flag while appearing to yell, "Viva Chavez."

During a 2006 interview with Playboy (via Palm Beach Post), a few months after he became a U.S. citizen, Guillen defended his take on Chavez.

"I like Chavez the man," he said. "I don't say I like him politically, because I don't agree with a lot of the stuff he does and says. But I have a right to like somebody, and I like the man. When I read about how hard he worked since he was 6-years-old to be president of Venezuela, I felt proud."

Known for speaking his mind throughout his managerial career, Guillen's comments about Castro have landed him in far more trouble than any of his previous verbal exploits.

"I respect Fidel Castro." Guillen said during a recent interview with Time magazine. "You know why? A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that son of a bitch is still there."

Already facing a five-game suspension, it remains to be seen if Guillen will still be in Miami when this controversy concludes.

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Comments

[Puzzlr]

06:03 PM on 04/12/2012

So he isn't allowed to like someone? The president of his country no less? Jeez, but the Cubans are strict. If I were him, I'd take my talents elsewhere.

[Claudia C Leon]

11:10 AM on 04/11/2012

I invite Ozzie to live in Venezuela as a "common citizen" with a "common salary" and lots of insecurity and a 40% of inflation. Very easy to talk about Chavez and Fidel with a Baseball Mayor League Salary and living in the US

[barbarajay]

08:49 AM on 04/13/2012

So true, I'm sure Castro could find a job for him at $100.00 a month...oh, but he's an American citizen now with all the rights and freedoms that come with being a citizen

[GeorgeGee]

01:39 AM on 04/11/2012

Ozzie is a true idiot. No really.... he's an idiot. Sure, he knows his baseball. But outside of baseball, I doubt he knows one additional detail about anything. I have a family member who is a wonderful surgeon. Take him out of the surgical room, and he is by any definition, and idiot for anything else. Can hardly drive a car or order his own food.

How can you be a raving mad, card carrying Communist, enjoy all the riches of the USA (he has verbally expressed his LOVE for money) and also be an admitted Santero (one who practices the Afro Cuban act of Santeria). Communists repress freedom of religion. And boy, to follow his religion, you need plentty of leeway! Yes, he's a Santero. A serious one too. There are different levels. He's a Santero who actually goes as far as killing and sacrificing goats and/or chickens all in honor of Chango (one of the most popular "gods" in Santeria").

By the way, for anyone whose doubting if this is legal in the USA, the answer is YES. I got this from Wiki, "In 1993, the issue of animal sacrifice was taken to the United States Supreme Court in the case of Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah. The court ruled that animal cruelty laws targeted specifically at Yoruba were unconstitutional. The Yoruba practice of animal sacrifice has seen no significant legal challenges since then".

That's Ozzie,,,NUTS!

[Lovapanda]

09:18 PM on 04/10/2012

no one asks american born baseball players or managers or whatever what they think of george w. bush, or any other president for that matter. this is L A M E. leave this guy alone, and if he wants to admire castro or che or chavez or mickey mouse, that's his business. let's play some baseball already. sheesh.

[mokando]

01:54 PM on 04/11/2012

He shouldn't offer it up. He offended the Cuban community in Little Havana. They are the ones that will ultimately hurt attendance and the owners bottom line.

[fullofmitt]

07:35 PM on 04/10/2012

I lived in Miami for 50 years. Frreedom of speech is non-existent in "little Havana" if you don't agree with the "Calle Ocho Warriors",as they are known in Dade County!

[Quotidien]

03:25 PM on 04/10/2012

Porque no te callas?

[Kritikos]

03:07 PM on 04/10/2012

In Miami, comments like that will get him the boot real quick.

[Whogivesafox]

03:01 PM on 04/10/2012

Hey Ozzie. tell us what you thinlk of Jose Jimenez.