Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez, who shot to notoriety in the US in September 2006 when he labeled George W. Bush ”the devil” at the UN general assembly, warmly welcomed the election of Barack Obama.

“The election of an afro-descendent to the head of the most powerful nation in the world is a symptom of the fact that the epoch-making change that is taking place in South America could be knocking on the door of the US,” the Venezuelan government said in a statement on Wednesday.