Venezuela's Chavez calls Palin a confused beauty queen

Caracas: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said US vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is a confused "beauty queen".

Chavez's remarks on Friday came after Palin, a former beauty pageant winner in the US, said he was a dictator.

Chavez, known for his colourful insults of world leaders, had made headlines in 2006 by calling US President George W. Bush "the devil".

"I saw the vice presidential candidate, there she was talking about 'the dictator Hugo Chavez.' The poor thing, you just feel sorry for her," he said during a televised broadcast.

"She's a beauty queen that they've pulled out to be a figurehead. We need to say as Christ did: Forgive her, she knows not what she's saying," he said.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain picked Palin as his running mate for the November 4 election in a surprise move.