World | Hugo Chavez Chavez's Nuttiest Theories Remember how capitalism killed life on Mars? By John Johnson Posted Mar 5, 2013 7:19 PM CST Copied In this 2005 file photo, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez wears a Mexican sombrero as he sings a Mexican ranchera song at a rally in Caracas, Venezuela. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File) The Los Angeles Times rounds up some of the more memorable declarations of the late Hugo Chavez, including: Mars: He theorized in 2011 that the red planet once might have had life but that capitalism and "imperialism" arrived on the planet and killed it. Cancer plot: He once speculated that the US gave him and other Latin American leaders cancer, a conspiracy floated anew today by his vice president. Haiti quake: The US caused it with a super-secret weapon. Twitter: He once called Twitter a "tool of terrorism," before becoming an enthusiastic tweeter himself. Devil: At a speech to the UN in 2006, he called George W. Bush the devil, crossed himself, and said the lectern "still smells of sulfur." At a subsequent speech in 2009, he said President Obama had eliminated the sulfur scent. Click for more. Read These Next JFK granddaughter dies at 35. Hundreds are suing a Virginia hospital, alleging unneeded surgeries. NFL star Stefon Diggs faces felony charge of strangulation. Dashcam video appears to show missing Texas teen on foot. Report an error