Manuel Rosales, governor of northwestern Zulia state and former presidential candidate Monday in Panama labeled President Hugo Chávez as "narcissist," "hypocrite," and "big liar," and blamed the Venezuelan ruler of "ruining" the country and endangering its future, DPA reported.

Rosales, who arrived in Panama to meet with local opposition politicians and businesspeople, Monday took part in a TV show and rebutted Chávez' social and economic policies.

According to Rosales, when Chávez took office, in 1999, Venezuelan public debt (both domestic and foreign) was USD 23 billion. Now, it exceeds USD 76 billion because of a project he called "Castro-Chavezism" being implemented in Latin America by the governments of Cuba and Venezuela.

Upon his arrival in Panama, Rosales rejected Venezuelan State control over the media and called for international support to avoid closure of private television station RCTV, the broadcast license of which expires next May 27 and which the Venezuelan Government has refused to renew.