Chavez Says Top US Diplomat Is Welcome In Venezuela
(aww - he is not gonna let 1 silly bush stop him from being friends with the other 300 million americans, reconquista mexicans and all the rest - hehe)
CARACAS (AP)--Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday said he would welcome a visit by a top U.S. State Department official and hopes to build close ties with like-minded Americans despite his vehement opposition to U.S. President George W. Bush.
Chavez mentioned the possible visit by Thomas Shannon, assistant U.S. secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, after meeting with a group of visiting Americans who thanked him for shipments of discounted heating oil to low-income U.S. communities this winter.
Shannon has called the Venezuelan foreign minister to say he wanted to visit, Chavez said, adding that he had no problem with that.
However, "he shouldn't come to cause problems, to provoke," he added. "If he shows respect we'll respect him."
Chavez didn't say when Shannon would visit, and U.S. Embassy officials said they had no comment.
Chavez, however, repeated sharp criticism of U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield, saying he would be expelled if he keeps trying to provoke confrontations - like an incident earlier this month when the envoy ventured into a pro-Chavez slum and had his car pelted by eggs and tomatoes from an angry crowd.
The U.S. State Department has warned it will not stand for such incidents, while the embassy said it would continue to notify Venezuelan authorities in advance of all the ambassador's travels so that they may provide security.
The visiting Americans, meanwhile, were treated as guests of honor during Chavez's weekly radio and television program, broadcast from the eastern town of El Tigre.
"We want to thank you personally for what you're doing for people," said James Sappier, a chief of the Penobscot Indian tribe near Bangor, Maine, who gave Chavez a carved prayer staff and prayed with him.
He was among more than 60 Americans who visited, also including residents of New York, Vermont and other northeastern states where Venezuela's U.S.-based Citgo Petroleum Corp. arranged for delivery of millions of gallons (liters) of discounted heating oil.
Some said they also hoped to learn about Chavez's socialist policies to help the poor.
Chavez, a fierce critic of Bush, insists the U.S. government has systematically sought ways to overthrow him in order to seize Venezuela's vast oil reserves. U.S. officials have denied it, but say the Cuban-allied Chavez poses a threat to democracies in the region.
He said Venezuela is at the center of a historic confrontation between U.S. "imperialism" and the ideals of South American independence hero Simon Bolivar, and that Americans will have a key role.
"They may accuse me of interfering there, but we're also going to win over the people of the United States," he said. "We need the people of the United States in this struggle.
.. We love the people of the United States."
Chavez also accused Washington of trying to undermine newly elected President Evo Morales in Bolivia, and the guests on his program included presidential candidate Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, who accused the U.S. of interfering in his country's upcoming elections.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 23, 2006 21:47 ET (01:47 GMT) |
