Rice: US Not Seeking Confrontation With Venezuela's Chavez (PUKE ALERT) [View All]

[Say_What]

US propaganda spun right out of the state department. Some good quotes by NY Rep. Serrano, however. CondiLIESa whines on and on about Fidel in congressional testimony. :eyes:

Condi is headed to LatAm, I just know she'll receive a very warm welcome--NOT!!

<clips>
Rice: US Not Seeking Confrontation With Venezuela's Chavez

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Wednesday said the Bush administration does not want to have a bad relationship with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. But in congressional testimony, Ms. Rice said U.S. officials are concerned about whether Mr. Chavez intends to govern democratically, and about his relationship with Cuba's President Fidel Castro.

Ms. Rice's appearance before the House Appropriations Committee came on the eve of her first trip to Latin America as secretary, a one-day visit to Mexico. And the issue of the Bush administration's chilly relationship with the Venezuelan leader figured prominently in the two-hour hearing, nominally about the coming year's State Department budget.

House Democrat Jose Serrano of New York said given the fact that Mr. Chavez has twice been elected president, and won a recall referendum last August, it might be wiser to embrace him as a democratic leader rather than continue a verbal confrontation with him.

Ms. Rice said the administration respects the democratic process in Venezuela, but that Mr. Chavez's treatment of the opposition and independent media raises questions about whether he intends to govern democratically.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-03-09-voa73.cfm