Chavez: Ridiculous Opposition Good For Your Health

Chavez: `It has been proven that watching and listening to opposition leaders is good for your health ...`

President Hugo Chavez mocked opposition leaders as good for Venezuelans' health, saying their ridiculous speeches ahead of a referendum on Sunday lifted voters' spirits by provoking laughter.

Chavez, who himself entertains crowds with songs, jokes and anecdotes during speeches, told his ministers at a televised Cabinet meeting to listen to the opposition to buoy themselves before the vote on allowing him to run for re-election.

"It has been proven that watching and listening to opposition leaders is good for your health ... because it's good to have a laugh, you know, not just psychologically but it gets your spirits up too," Chavez said late on Tuesday.

Chavez, who is sometimes bawdy and frequently uses slang at his political rallies, ridiculed opposition leader Manuel Rosales for telling voters to stop listening to the government by blocking their ears.

Chavez, who called the referendum on ending term limits because he wants to govern at least another decade, calls Rosales "The Philosopher," saying his oratory is impenetrable.

The opposition says the president is no joke. Rosales, who Chavez has said should be thrown in jail, accuses him of being a dictator-in-the-making seeking to turn the OPEC nation into a communist-run state like Cuba.