CARACAS, Venezuela-Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez lashed out at Germany's chancellor, suggesting that her party shares the political ideals of Adolf Hitler.

The Venezuelan leader criticized Chancellor Angela Merkel for belonging to the conservative Christian Democratic Union, calling the movement "the same right wing that supported Hitler and fascism."

Chavez was on the verge of launching more insults at the head of Germany's parliament, but suddenly stopped short.

"Ms. Chancellor, you can go to ..." he said during his weekly television and radio program Sunday, before pausing. Then he added: "Because you are a lady, I won't say any more."

Chavez said that Merkel recently urged some Latin American leaders to avoid forging ties with Venezuela's government.

He said a confrontation with Merkel could be looming at a meeting of Latin American and European leaders this week in Peru, and joked that she might respond by telling him to "shut up", as Spanish King Juan Carlos did during a summit last year.

Merkel's spokesman Thomas Steg said that the chancellor had said in an interview that no single country could harm overall relations between the European Union and Latin America.

Steg quoted Merkel as saying: "President Chavez does not speak for Latin America, every country has its own voice, with which they pursue their own interests."

"There is nothing to add to this interview statement," Steg said after Chavez's comments about Merkel, adding that the chancellor also had no comment about his accusations.

"The comments of President Chavez speak for themselves," Steg said.

Chavez has ridiculed numerous world leaders in recent years, including U.S. President George W. Bush, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Mexican President Vicente Fox. He seized the world's attention in 2006 by calling Bush "the devil" in a speech before the U.N. General Assembly.