What's in a handshake ?
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What's in an Obama-Chavez handshake?</font size>
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Reuters
By Steve Holland - Analysis
April 20, 2009
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - What's in a handshake? The clasping of hands by President Barack Obama and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has set off a debate over what kind of signal Obama was sending.
To the White House, the friendly Obama-Chavez encounter at a weekend summit of Latin leaders was a sign of a new U.S. foreign policy aimed at improving relations around the world.
"It's unlikely that as a consequence of me shaking hands or having a polite conversation with Mr. Chavez that we are endangering the strategic interests of the United States," Obama said.
But to some of his critics, the handshake was a sign of American weakness.
"Everywhere in Latin America, enemies of America are going to use the picture of Chavez smiling and meeting with the president as proof that Chavez is now legitimate, that he's acceptable," Republican Newt Gingrich, a former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, told NBC's "Today" show.
Obama and Chavez had two highly public encounters at the summit in Trinidad and Tobago -- a handshake, a chat and then later when Chavez gave Obama a book, "The Open Veins of Latin America," published in 1971 by Uruguayan Eduardo Galeano.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney, in an interview with the Fox News Channel, said Obama's encounters with both Chavez and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega were not helpful and "sets the wrong standard."
He accused Obama of taking an apologetic tone about past U.S. policy on his trips to Europe and Latin America.
(No citation; the article was removed as it was being cut and pasted during posting).
What's in an Obama-Chavez handshake?</font size>
Reuters
By Steve Holland - Analysis
April 20, 2009
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - What's in a handshake? The clasping of hands by President Barack Obama and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has set off a debate over what kind of signal Obama was sending.
To the White House, the friendly Obama-Chavez encounter at a weekend summit of Latin leaders was a sign of a new U.S. foreign policy aimed at improving relations around the world.
"It's unlikely that as a consequence of me shaking hands or having a polite conversation with Mr. Chavez that we are endangering the strategic interests of the United States," Obama said.
But to some of his critics, the handshake was a sign of American weakness.
"Everywhere in Latin America, enemies of America are going to use the picture of Chavez smiling and meeting with the president as proof that Chavez is now legitimate, that he's acceptable," Republican Newt Gingrich, a former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, told NBC's "Today" show.
Obama and Chavez had two highly public encounters at the summit in Trinidad and Tobago -- a handshake, a chat and then later when Chavez gave Obama a book, "The Open Veins of Latin America," published in 1971 by Uruguayan Eduardo Galeano.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney, in an interview with the Fox News Channel, said Obama's encounters with both Chavez and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega were not helpful and "sets the wrong standard."
He accused Obama of taking an apologetic tone about past U.S. policy on his trips to Europe and Latin America.
(No citation; the article was removed as it was being cut and pasted during posting).
A great example of "Spin". Providing an interpretation of an event or campaign to persuade public opinion in favor or against a certain organization or public figure. While traditional public relations may also rely on creative presentation of the facts, "spin" often, though not always, implies disingenuous, deceptive and/or highly manipulative tactics. Politicians are often accused by their opponents of claiming to be honest and seek the truth while using spin tactics to manipulate public opinion.
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The Reaction:</font size>
<font size="4">Whats your reaction ???
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The Reaction:</font size>
- Does shaking hands with Chavez make him look soft: "We had this debate throughout the campaign, and the whole notion was -- is -- that somehow if we showed courtesy or opened up dialogue with governments that had previously been hostile to us, that that somehow would be a sign of weakness. The American people didn't buy it. And there's a good reason the American people didn't buy it -- because it doesn't make sense," said President Obama.
Shaking hands with Chávez does nothing to endanger U.S. strategic interests, he argued. Nor does having a more constructive relationship with Venezuela.
- Newt Gingrich - a former Speaker of the House of Representatives: Everywhere in Latin America, enemies of America are going to use the picture of Chavez smiling and meeting with the president as proof that Chavez is now legitimate, that he is acceptable," he said.
"I am not against him talking to Chavez," he said. "But I think he ought to talk to Chavez in a cold and distant way because Chavez openly, constantly attacks the United States."
- Rush Limbaugh: Obama paling around with Chavez.
- Otto Reich, Former U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela: President Barack Obama’s “hobnobbing” with the Venezuelan leader the “greatest triumph in Venezuelan diplomacy ever.” “I think it’s very unfortunate. I don’t think President Obama really understands, perhaps out of lack of experience in international affairs, the importance of symbolism,” said Reich, who was policy adviser on Latin America for John McCain’s presidential campaign.
“You don’t go around slapping the back of a foreign dictator, a would-be dictator in the case of Chavez, who has done everything in his power to undermine U.S. interests in the region and who calls himself an enemy of the United States.”
Chavez is seeking to “portray this warm handshake, and a slap on the back which came later, as an endorsement of Chavez, which I’m sure President Obama did not intend,” Reich said.
“That is the way it is being portrayed not only in Venezuela but in the rest of the continent, all of Latin America.”
“I worked for three presidents. I don’t think that would have happened with President Reagan or either one of the President Bushes.
<font size="4">Whats your reaction ???
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From Nixon to Reagan we see pictures of American Presidents shaking hands with those who we would refer to as 'enemies' of the United States. This overblown inflammatory distraction only serves to fill the media cycle because they have nothing substantive to discuss.
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Will Chavez and Obama continue to make friendly?</font size>
McClatchy Newspapers
By Tyler Bridges
April 20, 2009
CARACAS, Venezuela — Presidents Barack Obama and Hugo Chavez unexpectedly rescued U.S.-Venezuelan relations from the deep freezer over the weekend at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad.
The two high-profile leaders replaced barbed words with cordial greetings, and Chavez said he wanted to name a new ambassador to the U.S. to replace the one who was expelled last year.
Now each side is waiting for the other to take the next step to put relations on a normal footing, a level not achieved since 2001, during the early days of the Bush administration, analysts said Monday.
<SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00"><font size="3">
Can Cordial Contacts Reflect Genuine Change ?</span></font size>
Unless the cordial contacts reflect a genuine change in the countries' attitudes, however, few analysts expect the warming to last, given U.S. actions that Chavez has deemed hostile and Chavez's history of using the U.S. as a political punching bag.
"Chavez's MO has always been to create conflict with an external power or entity, be it Washington, Colombia or ExxonMobil," said Patrick Esteruelas, who just returned to New York from Venezuela for the Eurasia Group, a risk-analysis firm. "He needs to create a smoke screen to distract people away from the government's own problems and mismanagement, no matter who sits in the White House."
It's in the interest of both leaders to maintain the flow of Venezuelan oil to the United States, however.
Washington and Chavez have had a turbulent history, punctuated by his accusation that the U.S. was killing babies with bombing attacks in Afghanistan in 2001 and his charge that Bush administration officials gave at least tacit support to a 2002 coup that toppled him for three days.
Chavez expelled the U.S. ambassador last year in solidarity with Bolivia after President Evo Morales booted out the U.S. ambassador there. The U.S. retaliated by kicking out ambassadors from both countries.
So the first move toward building on the amiable conversations from last weekend is for Venezuela and the U.S. to restore the ambassadors.
In Trinidad, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chavez discussed restoring the ambassadors, with Chavez publicly identifying a former foreign minister as his choice to send to Washington.
"As we have stated previously, exchanging ambassadors will help advance U.S. interests," a State Department representative said Monday, speaking on the condition of anonymity as a matter of policy. "It is necessary for improving communications and our bilateral relations."
Obama defended himself from conservatives in the U.S. who said he'd been too friendly with Chavez at the summit.
"I have great differences with Hugo Chavez on matters of economic policy and matters of foreign policy," Obama said Sunday at a post-summit news conference. "His rhetoric directed at the United States has been inflammatory. There have been instances in which we've seen Venezuela interfere with some of the . . . countries that surround Venezuela in ways that I think are a source of concern.
"On the other hand, Venezuela is a country whose defense budget is probably 1/600th of the United States'. They own CITGO. It's unlikely that as a consequence of me shaking hands or having a polite conversation with Mr. Chavez that we are endangering the strategic interests of the United States."
Fausto Maso, a Caracas-based political columnist, said he thought that Chavez felt obliged to make nice with Obama because the U.S. president had sky-high rankings in Venezuela and elsewhere throughout Latin America as a fresh face who had the same skin color as many Latin Americans.
"Chavez wants good relations with the United States in the short term," Maso said. "But Chavez will seek conflict with the United States again."
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/255/story/66541.html
Will Chavez and Obama continue to make friendly?</font size>
McClatchy Newspapers
By Tyler Bridges
April 20, 2009
CARACAS, Venezuela — Presidents Barack Obama and Hugo Chavez unexpectedly rescued U.S.-Venezuelan relations from the deep freezer over the weekend at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad.
The two high-profile leaders replaced barbed words with cordial greetings, and Chavez said he wanted to name a new ambassador to the U.S. to replace the one who was expelled last year.
Now each side is waiting for the other to take the next step to put relations on a normal footing, a level not achieved since 2001, during the early days of the Bush administration, analysts said Monday.
- U.S. officials want the Chavez government to cooperate with U.S. anti-drug efforts, begin issuing visas for U.S. diplomats to enter Venezuela and halt its buying spree of Russia weapons, analysts said.
- Venezuelan officials want continued respect from the Obama administration and a muted response to Chavez's moves against his political opposition.
<SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00"><font size="3">
Can Cordial Contacts Reflect Genuine Change ?</span></font size>
Unless the cordial contacts reflect a genuine change in the countries' attitudes, however, few analysts expect the warming to last, given U.S. actions that Chavez has deemed hostile and Chavez's history of using the U.S. as a political punching bag.
"Chavez's MO has always been to create conflict with an external power or entity, be it Washington, Colombia or ExxonMobil," said Patrick Esteruelas, who just returned to New York from Venezuela for the Eurasia Group, a risk-analysis firm. "He needs to create a smoke screen to distract people away from the government's own problems and mismanagement, no matter who sits in the White House."
It's in the interest of both leaders to maintain the flow of Venezuelan oil to the United States, however.
Washington and Chavez have had a turbulent history, punctuated by his accusation that the U.S. was killing babies with bombing attacks in Afghanistan in 2001 and his charge that Bush administration officials gave at least tacit support to a 2002 coup that toppled him for three days.
Chavez expelled the U.S. ambassador last year in solidarity with Bolivia after President Evo Morales booted out the U.S. ambassador there. The U.S. retaliated by kicking out ambassadors from both countries.
So the first move toward building on the amiable conversations from last weekend is for Venezuela and the U.S. to restore the ambassadors.
In Trinidad, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chavez discussed restoring the ambassadors, with Chavez publicly identifying a former foreign minister as his choice to send to Washington.
"As we have stated previously, exchanging ambassadors will help advance U.S. interests," a State Department representative said Monday, speaking on the condition of anonymity as a matter of policy. "It is necessary for improving communications and our bilateral relations."
Obama defended himself from conservatives in the U.S. who said he'd been too friendly with Chavez at the summit.
"I have great differences with Hugo Chavez on matters of economic policy and matters of foreign policy," Obama said Sunday at a post-summit news conference. "His rhetoric directed at the United States has been inflammatory. There have been instances in which we've seen Venezuela interfere with some of the . . . countries that surround Venezuela in ways that I think are a source of concern.
"On the other hand, Venezuela is a country whose defense budget is probably 1/600th of the United States'. They own CITGO. It's unlikely that as a consequence of me shaking hands or having a polite conversation with Mr. Chavez that we are endangering the strategic interests of the United States."
Fausto Maso, a Caracas-based political columnist, said he thought that Chavez felt obliged to make nice with Obama because the U.S. president had sky-high rankings in Venezuela and elsewhere throughout Latin America as a fresh face who had the same skin color as many Latin Americans.
"Chavez wants good relations with the United States in the short term," Maso said. "But Chavez will seek conflict with the United States again."
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/255/story/66541.html
please, these 2 people have hated each other for the last 50 years and they shook hands...
Chavez is nothing similar to the hate the Jews-Palestinians have amongst each other.
Chavez is nothing similar to the hate the Jews-Palestinians have amongst each other.
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What's in an Obama-Chavez handshake?</font size>
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Chavez: Smiles, handshakes don't
change view of 'imperialist' U.S.</font size></center>
Friday, April 24, 2009
(CNN) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Friday he appreciated U.S. President Barack Obama's friendly gestures at last weekend's Summit of the Americas, but said they don't change his view of the United States as an imperialist nation.
Chavez's fiery diatribes against the United States have included referring to former President George W. Bush as the devil.
He was photographed with Obama at least twice at the summit -- once when Obama shook hands with him and other leaders, and again when he approached Obama to give him a book.
<SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">"The hand[shake], yes. And the smile, yes -- one time and a second time and a third time and a fourth time," Chavez said during a televised address. "But nobody should be mistaken. The empire is there, alive and kicking."</span>
The book Chavez presented to Obama as cameras rolled is titled "Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent." The book chronicles Europe's and the United States' role in "the effects and causes of capitalist underdevelopment in Latin America," according to one reviewer.
<SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">As he has in the past, Chavez noted Obama's historic role as the first black U.S. president.
"I hope Obama, for the dignity of his race, may be the last president of an imperialist United States," he said</span>.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/04/24/chavez.us/
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Chavez: Next Gift for Obama
Authored by Vladimir Lenin</font size></center>
April 18: Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez
hands President Obama the book titled "The
Open Veins of Latin America" by Eduardo
Galeano.
Associated Press
Saturday, May 30, 2009
CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez says he has a new book for President Barack Obama: "What is to be Done?" by communist Vladimir Lenin, founder of the Soviet state.
Chavez says he'll "give it to Obama at the next meeting."
"What is to be Done?" is Lenin's political treatise on the role of intellectuals and the proletariat in promoting revolution, written more than a decade before he led the Bolshevik takeover of Russia in 1917.
Chavez gave Obama a copy of "Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent" by Eduardo Galeano at an April summit.
The book jumped the next day to the No. 2 seller on Amazon.com.
Chavez spoke Friday on a marathon, anniversary edition of his "Hello President" television show.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,523297,00.html
Chavez: Next Gift for Obama
Authored by Vladimir Lenin</font size></center>
April 18: Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez
hands President Obama the book titled "The
Open Veins of Latin America" by Eduardo
Galeano.
Associated Press
Saturday, May 30, 2009
CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez says he has a new book for President Barack Obama: "What is to be Done?" by communist Vladimir Lenin, founder of the Soviet state.
Chavez says he'll "give it to Obama at the next meeting."
"What is to be Done?" is Lenin's political treatise on the role of intellectuals and the proletariat in promoting revolution, written more than a decade before he led the Bolshevik takeover of Russia in 1917.
Chavez gave Obama a copy of "Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent" by Eduardo Galeano at an April summit.
The book jumped the next day to the No. 2 seller on Amazon.com.
Chavez spoke Friday on a marathon, anniversary edition of his "Hello President" television show.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,523297,00.html
<font size="5"><center>
Chavez: Next Gift for Obama
Authored by Vladimir Lenin</font size></center>
April 18: Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez
hands President Obama the book titled "The
Open Veins of Latin America" by Eduardo
Galeano.
Associated Press
Saturday, May 30, 2009
CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez says he has a new book for President Barack Obama: "What is to be Done?" by communist Vladimir Lenin, founder of the Soviet state.
Chavez says he'll "give it to Obama at the next meeting."
"What is to be Done?" is Lenin's political treatise on the role of intellectuals and the proletariat in promoting revolution, written more than a decade before he led the Bolshevik takeover of Russia in 1917.
Chavez gave Obama a copy of "Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent" by Eduardo Galeano at an April summit.
The book jumped the next day to the No. 2 seller on Amazon.com.
Chavez spoke Friday on a marathon, anniversary edition of his "Hello President" television show.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,523297,00.html
The first book was fine, but giving him a book written by Lenin..and on top of that promoting revolution........conservatives are going to have a field day.
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Hugo Chavez launches
New Year war against USA</font size></center>
December 3o, 2010
Hugo Chavez has launched a "New Year's War" against the U.S. He delivered a new portion of angry statements against Washington, and refused to allow a new U.S. Ambassador Larry Palmer into his country even at the cost of a possible breach of the diplomatic relations.
The dispute over Palmer's candidacy emerged last summer. Then, the former U.S. ambassador Patrick Duddy had left Caracas due to the expiration of his stay in Venezuela. However, the new appointment has not taken place.
Chavez did not like the statement of Larry Palmer that the morale of Venezuela's army is low, and that the ideology of the country is increasingly more influenced by the socialist Cuba. Finally, Palmer said that Venezuela hosted "terrorist bases" of the "Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia" (FARC), which Caracas has always denied.
Chavez called on to replace him with another diplomat. However, the U.S. State Department refused. In addition, the U.S. threatened to Venezuela that a refusal to accept the ambassador may cause further deterioration of already uneasy bilateral relations.
However, Hugo did not get scared. "We have refused to recognize this gentleman (Palmer), and now the U.S. government has threatened retaliatory measures. If they want to kick out our ambassador, let them do it! If they want to break off diplomatic relations, let them do it. To arrive here, the ambassador has to respect the country. That would be a shame if I allowed this man to come to Venezuela," said Chavez.
Lately, the Americans also allowed themselves undiplomatic remarks against Venezuela. They were not happy about the fact that on December 17 the Venezuelan Parliament granted Chavez additional powers to enact laws and bypass the Parliament itself. Chavez took advantage of it enough to anger Washington.
In particular, he created 10 special military districts, many of which are located on the border with Colombia, the main U.S. ally in the region. Others are located on the territory of Venezuela, in the provinces headed by the opposition. In this decision by Chavez Washington saw the pressure on its opponents.
The U.S. does not like his other laws aimed at strengthening of the supervision of the universities and cutting off the channels of financing of non-governmental organizations from abroad. As we know, thanks to such grants the Americans have nurtured "color revolutions" around the world.
The relationship between the U.S. and Venezuela has changed dramatically with the coming of Hugo Chavez to power in Caracas. But now we are talking about the threat of the break of the diplomatic relations, which is equivalent to a state of war.
Boris Martynov, Deputy Director of the Institute of Latin American Countries, commented on the situation for Pravda.ru.
- Is Chavez really, not just in words, ready to challenge the U.S.?
"This does not mean that he intends to break up the relations with the United States, knowing the dependence of Venezuela on oil exports. Chavez's words about a possible breakup is a puppet theater, a one-man show.
Realizing that he starts losing the ground, he turns to the means available to stir up the people, which is anti-Americanism. I foresee that in the near future, the verbal rhetoric of Chavez aimed at mobilizing his voters will only increase.
<SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">His statements are due to the deterioration of the situation in the country.</span>
Realizing that he starts losing the ground, he turns to the means available to stir up the people, which is anti-Americanism. I foresee that in the near future, the verbal rhetoric of Chavez aimed at mobilizing his voters will only increase.
<SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">His statements are due to the deterioration of the situation in the country.</span>
- First, after the elections to the Parliament where the opposition is stronger, it became clear that it has ceased to be a toy in Hugo's hands.
- Second, he has wasted the enormous proceeds from oil sales to support friendly regimes and his economic platform is rather shaky.
- Why did the U.S. take such an uncompromising position?
"The Americans are not going to give in; otherwise it would mean losing their face. This is important especially now, when the U.S. has made so many mistakes in terms of Latin America. If we take into account Palmer's harsh statements, it is not surprising. The U.S. is now going to recover its lost position in Latin America that it considers its back yard if not fully, then at least partially.
Even the "peacemaker" Obama who also made some mistakes in terms of the policy towards seemingly strategic direction to the south of the Rio Grande makes statements of this kind.
Yet, most Latin Americans disagree. They believe that they do not need directions on how to live their lives, as they are capable of choosing the most appropriate way. You do not teach Asian tigers how they should live, do you?
- What is the future of Chavez's regime?
<SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">"The prospects of Hugo, frankly, are not that great.</span>
- He will not make any concessions to the opposition, knowing that it would mean the loss of power.
- He will not be able to influence the situation without the crackdown.
- He simply does not have the economic leverage to do it.
He has the last resort - the <SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">dictatorship</span> in the full sense of this word, without appealing to democratic institutions like parliament and all sorts of elections. This is the short term perspective.
Yet, <SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">if you look into the distant future, Chavez is unlikely to keep his place long enough.</span> It does not have to do so much with the U.S. tricks, but with the actions of Chavez, which led to a sharp deterioration in the economic situation in the country."
http://english.pravda.ru/world/americas/30-12-2010/116404-chavez_usa-0/
POSTER'S NOTE: <font size="1">Pravdahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pravda (Russian: Правда, "Truth", was a leading newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991.
The Pravda newspaper was started in 1912 in St. Petersburg. It was converted from a weekly Zvezda. It did not arrive in Moscow until 1918. During the Cold War, Pravda was well known in the West for its pronouncements as the official voice of Soviet Communism. (Similarly Izvestia was the official voice of the Soviet government.)
After the paper was closed down in 1991 by decree of then-President Boris Yeltsin, many of the staff founded a new paper with the same name, which is now a tabloid-style Russian news source. There is an unaffiliated Internet-based newspaper, Pravda Online run by former Pravda newspaper employees. A number of other newspapers have also been called Pravda, most notably Komsomolskaya Pravda, formerly the official newspaper of the now defunct Komsomol and currently the best-selling tabloid in Russia.</font size>
`
In an article publidshed December 28, 2010 in Foreign Policy entitled, Next Year's Wars - The 16 brewing conflicts to watch for in 2011, the author had this to say about Venezuela:
"Over the next 12 months, watch for Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez to take his brand of 21st-century socialism to the extremes. Having lost his majority in Parliament in September, Chávez has since been working hard to ensure that the new, opposition legislature will be irrelevant by the time it is sworn in in January. The Venezuelan president has consolidated control over the military and police, seized more private companies, and won temporary "decree powers" from the outgoing, pro-government National Assembly.
Chávez's power grab comes as the country's economic, social, and security problems are mounting. Violence has spiked dramatically in urban areas; there were some 19,000 homicides in 2009 out of a population of 28 million. In recent years, Venezuela has become a major drug-trafficking corridor, home to foreign and domestic cartels alike. State security forces have also been accused of participating in criminal activity. Meanwhile, Chávez has escalated -- rather than soothed -- the situation with fiery, partisan rhetoric that seems to egg on a violent suppression of the opposition. That message has an audience; government-allied street gangs in Caracas stand ready to defend his revolution with Kalashnikovs."
The other 15 brewing conflicts to watch in 2011 are:
Côte d'Ivoire (the Ivory Coast)
Colombia
Zimbabwe
Iraq
Sudan
Mexico
Guatemala
Haiti
Tajikistan
Pakistan
Somalia
Lebanon
Nigeria
Guinea
Democratic Republic of the Congo
`
In an article publidshed December 28, 2010 in Foreign Policy entitled, Next Year's Wars - The 16 brewing conflicts to watch for in 2011, the author had this to say about Venezuela:
"Over the next 12 months, watch for Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez to take his brand of 21st-century socialism to the extremes. Having lost his majority in Parliament in September, Chávez has since been working hard to ensure that the new, opposition legislature will be irrelevant by the time it is sworn in in January. The Venezuelan president has consolidated control over the military and police, seized more private companies, and won temporary "decree powers" from the outgoing, pro-government National Assembly.
Chávez's power grab comes as the country's economic, social, and security problems are mounting. Violence has spiked dramatically in urban areas; there were some 19,000 homicides in 2009 out of a population of 28 million. In recent years, Venezuela has become a major drug-trafficking corridor, home to foreign and domestic cartels alike. State security forces have also been accused of participating in criminal activity. Meanwhile, Chávez has escalated -- rather than soothed -- the situation with fiery, partisan rhetoric that seems to egg on a violent suppression of the opposition. That message has an audience; government-allied street gangs in Caracas stand ready to defend his revolution with Kalashnikovs."
The other 15 brewing conflicts to watch in 2011 are:
Côte d'Ivoire (the Ivory Coast)
Colombia
Zimbabwe
Iraq
Sudan
Mexico
Guatemala
Haiti
Tajikistan
Pakistan
Somalia
Lebanon
Nigeria
Guinea
Democratic Republic of the Congo
`
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Yesterday Hugo Chavez refused to allow a new U.S. Ambassador, Larry Palmer, into his country, even at the cost of a possible breach of the diplomatic relations.
A day later, the US revoked the visa of Bernardo Alvarez Herrera, the Venezuelan ambassador, blocking him from returning to Washington. PJ Crowley, the State Department spokesman, said that "appropriate, proportional and reciprocal action" had been taken.
State Department officials acknowledged difficulties in US relations with Venezuela. "We believe it's in our national interest to have an ambassador in Caracas so that we can candidly express our views and engage with the government of Venezuela," said Mark Toner, another spokesman.
"There are tensions in the relationship, and it's precisely because of that that we feel that it's important to have appropriate diplomatic relations."
`
Yesterday Hugo Chavez refused to allow a new U.S. Ambassador, Larry Palmer, into his country, even at the cost of a possible breach of the diplomatic relations.
A day later, the US revoked the visa of Bernardo Alvarez Herrera, the Venezuelan ambassador, blocking him from returning to Washington. PJ Crowley, the State Department spokesman, said that "appropriate, proportional and reciprocal action" had been taken.
State Department officials acknowledged difficulties in US relations with Venezuela. "We believe it's in our national interest to have an ambassador in Caracas so that we can candidly express our views and engage with the government of Venezuela," said Mark Toner, another spokesman.
"There are tensions in the relationship, and it's precisely because of that that we feel that it's important to have appropriate diplomatic relations."
`
Bumped From the Archives -- The Best of Hugo Chavez --
July 28, 1954 - March 5, 2013
Seven days of mourning after president dies in Caracas - The Guardian
The Passing of a Political Tsunami - Fox News
Death Comes for el Comandante: Hugo Chávez (1954–2013) - TIME
Obituary: Hugo Chavez - socialist showman who transformed Venezuela - REUTERS
Historic meeting: Obama, Cuba’s Castro
vow to ‘turn page’ on bitter history
PANAMA CITY — President Barack Obama held a private meeting with Cuban leader Raúl Castro Saturday, ending more than half a century of U.S. diplomatic attempts to isolate Cuba and cast it as a pariah state.
“This is obviously an historic meeting,” Obama said as the two men beside one another in identical wooden armchairs in a small room at a convention center here.
Obama said that more than five decades of U.S. policy on Cuba had failed to bring change to the communist island, and, “It was time for us to try something new” even as both nations deal with “deep and significant differences.”
He declared it’s time “to turn the page and develop a new relationship between our two countries.”
A handful of aides were in the room with the two leaders, and a U.S. press pool observed part of the meeting. The two leaders shook hands at least twice.
“We are willing to discuss everything, but we need to be patient, very patient,” Castro said through an interpreter for the pool. “We might disagree on something today on which we could agree tomorrow.”
At a news conference later, Obama said he believed re-establishing relations might be more difficult for the Cuban government that it would be for the United States.
“They haven't dealt with an American embassy in Cuba in quite some time. Changing in this way, I am sure, is an unsettling process,” Obama said. “This is probably a more profound shift for them than it is for us.”
The rapprochement will surely be remembered as one of Obama’s most significant foreign policy moves in a presidency that began in 2009. He announced intentions to re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba last Dec. 17, and the pace of bilateral contacts has quickened markedly, even in the last three days.
Obama’s diplomatic effort has met with resistance, and Saturday’s meeting drew sharp criticism from some sectors, including Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, who noted that Obama refused to meet with Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu early last month in Washington.
Bush tweeted: “Obama meets with Castro but refused to meet w/ @netanyahu. Why legitimize a cruel dictator of a repressive regime?”
The meeting came on the sidelines of the two-day Summit of the Americas, which drew leaders from nearly all the hemisphere’s 35 countries and brought about a topsy-turvy scene in which leaders from nations supportive of Venezuela lashed the United States and offered a litany of grievances while Castro offered a spirited defense of Obama.
Castro accused the United States of a tarnished history in the hemisphere but absolved Obama of any responsibility.
“In my opinion, President Obama is an honest man,” Castro said. “I admire him and his life and think his behavior has a lot to do with his humble background.”
At one point in his 50-minute speech, Castro paused after passionately recounting his version of U.S. actions to isolate and besiege his country.
“I apologize to him because President Obama had no responsibility for this. There were 10 presidents before him and all of them owe some kind of debt except for President Obama,” Castro said.
Some fellow presidents clapped loudly at Castro’s defense of Obama.
“Believe me, I have given a great deal of thought to those words. I had written them down. I removed them. But there, I said it. I am pleased that I have said this about President Obama.”
During much of Castro’s speech, Obama sat silently chewing gum, an earpiece in his right ear offering translation.
The two leaders had spoken on the telephone last Wednesday, the White House said, their second conversation since last December when the two announced their intention to re-establish diplomatic relations severed in 1961. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Cuban counterpart, Bruno Rodriguez, held a lengthy meeting in Panama City Thursday night.
At the summit’s inauguration Friday night, Obama and Castro clasped hands briefly as U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon looked on in evident satisfaction.
Speaking at a morning session Saturday, Obama said the U.S. government had opened a new era of engagement with Latin America, dealing with the countries as “equal partners.”
“The United States will not be imprisoned by the past. We’re looking to the future,” he said, emphasizing his administration’s desire to open “a new relationship with Cuba.”
Turning to Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, who had earlier attempted to school Obama on how U.S. forefather Thomas Jefferson “owned hundreds of slaves,” Obama said, “I always enjoy the history lessons I receive when I am here.”
“I’m certainly mindful that there are dark chapters in our history,” he said. “America never makes a claim about being perfect.”
Obama warned his counterparts that “talking about past grievances” and blaming the United States for their own domestic problems “is not going to bring progress. That’s not going to solve the problems of children who can’t read, or don’t have enough to eat.”
Making a reference to the Ecuadorean leader’s harsh treatment of the news media, including using the courts to stifle critical voices, Obama said, “We think the idea of not jailing people if they disagree with you is the right idea.
“Perhaps President Correa has more confidence than I do in distinguishing between bad press and good press,” Obama said. “I think if we believe in democracy, everyone has the chance to speak out and offer their opinions.”
Castro said the United States and Cuba both played a role in the violence that once-wracked Latin America.
“Who sitting here does not remember that very recent stage of dictatorships everywhere on our continent?” Castro asked. “Successive (U.S.) interventions ousted democratic governments, and in 20 countries installed terrible dictators.”
Growing impassioned as he described what he said was the presence in Panama City of a former CIA agent, Felix Rodriguez, who also was present when revolutionary Che Guevara was executed in Bolivia in 1967, Castro paused for a moment.
“I am very emotional when I talk about the revolution,” Castro said.
He acknowledged that Cuba had its own past, noting that then-President Ronald Reagan put Cuba on a U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism in 1982.
“Yes, we have conducted solidarity with other people that could be considered terrorism,” Castro said. “When we were cornered, when we were harassed, we had no other choice – either to give up or to fight back.”
Castro called on the region to help Obama overturn the U.S. embargo of Cuba.
“One thing is to establish diplomatic relations. But the blockade is a different thing,” Castro said, using the preferred Cuban term for the embargo.
In private meetings on the sidelines of the summit, Obama met with critics and supporters alike.
Minutes before returning to Washington, Obama and Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro had “a brief conversation,” said National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan. Obama “reiterated that our interest is not in threatening Venezuela, but in supporting democracy, stability and prosperity.”
Obama heard praisefrom other leaders about the relaxation of U.S. tensions with Cuba.
“I want to congratulate you again for you courage in taking steps to normalize relations with Cuba,” Colombian leader Juan Manuel Santos told Obama, according to a pool report, noting that it would have “very positive repercussions” for relations in the Americas.
Brazilian leader Dilma Rousseff also hailed the inclusion of Cuba in the summit and acknowledged Obama’s role in bringing the change about.
But leaders of a Venezuelan-led bloc of 11 nations took turns in flaying the United States and in criticizing Obama directly.
“I respect you but I don’t trust you, President Obama,” Maduro told the open session, adding that his diplomats would turn over a petition signed by 11 million of his countrymen urging the White House to repeal a March 9 executive order imposing sanctions on seven current and former Venezuelan officials and declaring Venezuela a national security threat to the United States.
“This decree is very dangerous,” Maduro said. “Everything that is said about them (the Venezuelan officials) is a lie. It’s false.”
While Maduro spoke, opponents near the convention center banged on empty metal pots in a traditional Latin American protest signaling their hunger and opposition.
Bolivian leader Evo Morales asserted that Washington still sees Latin America “not only as its backyard but its patrimony.”
McClatchy White House correspondent Lesley Clark contributed to this report.
Email: tjohnson@mcclatchydc.com; Twitter: @timjohnson4
“This is obviously an historic meeting,” Obama said as the two men beside one another in identical wooden armchairs in a small room at a convention center here.
Obama said that more than five decades of U.S. policy on Cuba had failed to bring change to the communist island, and, “It was time for us to try something new” even as both nations deal with “deep and significant differences.”
He declared it’s time “to turn the page and develop a new relationship between our two countries.”
A handful of aides were in the room with the two leaders, and a U.S. press pool observed part of the meeting. The two leaders shook hands at least twice.
“We are willing to discuss everything, but we need to be patient, very patient,” Castro said through an interpreter for the pool. “We might disagree on something today on which we could agree tomorrow.”
At a news conference later, Obama said he believed re-establishing relations might be more difficult for the Cuban government that it would be for the United States.
“They haven't dealt with an American embassy in Cuba in quite some time. Changing in this way, I am sure, is an unsettling process,” Obama said. “This is probably a more profound shift for them than it is for us.”
The rapprochement will surely be remembered as one of Obama’s most significant foreign policy moves in a presidency that began in 2009. He announced intentions to re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba last Dec. 17, and the pace of bilateral contacts has quickened markedly, even in the last three days.
Obama’s diplomatic effort has met with resistance, and Saturday’s meeting drew sharp criticism from some sectors, including Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, who noted that Obama refused to meet with Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu early last month in Washington.
Bush tweeted: “Obama meets with Castro but refused to meet w/ @netanyahu. Why legitimize a cruel dictator of a repressive regime?”
The meeting came on the sidelines of the two-day Summit of the Americas, which drew leaders from nearly all the hemisphere’s 35 countries and brought about a topsy-turvy scene in which leaders from nations supportive of Venezuela lashed the United States and offered a litany of grievances while Castro offered a spirited defense of Obama.
Castro accused the United States of a tarnished history in the hemisphere but absolved Obama of any responsibility.
“In my opinion, President Obama is an honest man,” Castro said. “I admire him and his life and think his behavior has a lot to do with his humble background.”
At one point in his 50-minute speech, Castro paused after passionately recounting his version of U.S. actions to isolate and besiege his country.
“I apologize to him because President Obama had no responsibility for this. There were 10 presidents before him and all of them owe some kind of debt except for President Obama,” Castro said.
Some fellow presidents clapped loudly at Castro’s defense of Obama.
“Believe me, I have given a great deal of thought to those words. I had written them down. I removed them. But there, I said it. I am pleased that I have said this about President Obama.”
During much of Castro’s speech, Obama sat silently chewing gum, an earpiece in his right ear offering translation.
The two leaders had spoken on the telephone last Wednesday, the White House said, their second conversation since last December when the two announced their intention to re-establish diplomatic relations severed in 1961. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Cuban counterpart, Bruno Rodriguez, held a lengthy meeting in Panama City Thursday night.
At the summit’s inauguration Friday night, Obama and Castro clasped hands briefly as U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon looked on in evident satisfaction.
Speaking at a morning session Saturday, Obama said the U.S. government had opened a new era of engagement with Latin America, dealing with the countries as “equal partners.”
“The United States will not be imprisoned by the past. We’re looking to the future,” he said, emphasizing his administration’s desire to open “a new relationship with Cuba.”
Turning to Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, who had earlier attempted to school Obama on how U.S. forefather Thomas Jefferson “owned hundreds of slaves,” Obama said, “I always enjoy the history lessons I receive when I am here.”
“I’m certainly mindful that there are dark chapters in our history,” he said. “America never makes a claim about being perfect.”
Obama warned his counterparts that “talking about past grievances” and blaming the United States for their own domestic problems “is not going to bring progress. That’s not going to solve the problems of children who can’t read, or don’t have enough to eat.”
Making a reference to the Ecuadorean leader’s harsh treatment of the news media, including using the courts to stifle critical voices, Obama said, “We think the idea of not jailing people if they disagree with you is the right idea.
“Perhaps President Correa has more confidence than I do in distinguishing between bad press and good press,” Obama said. “I think if we believe in democracy, everyone has the chance to speak out and offer their opinions.”
Castro said the United States and Cuba both played a role in the violence that once-wracked Latin America.
“Who sitting here does not remember that very recent stage of dictatorships everywhere on our continent?” Castro asked. “Successive (U.S.) interventions ousted democratic governments, and in 20 countries installed terrible dictators.”
Growing impassioned as he described what he said was the presence in Panama City of a former CIA agent, Felix Rodriguez, who also was present when revolutionary Che Guevara was executed in Bolivia in 1967, Castro paused for a moment.
“I am very emotional when I talk about the revolution,” Castro said.
He acknowledged that Cuba had its own past, noting that then-President Ronald Reagan put Cuba on a U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism in 1982.
“Yes, we have conducted solidarity with other people that could be considered terrorism,” Castro said. “When we were cornered, when we were harassed, we had no other choice – either to give up or to fight back.”
Castro called on the region to help Obama overturn the U.S. embargo of Cuba.
“One thing is to establish diplomatic relations. But the blockade is a different thing,” Castro said, using the preferred Cuban term for the embargo.
In private meetings on the sidelines of the summit, Obama met with critics and supporters alike.
Minutes before returning to Washington, Obama and Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro had “a brief conversation,” said National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan. Obama “reiterated that our interest is not in threatening Venezuela, but in supporting democracy, stability and prosperity.”
Obama heard praisefrom other leaders about the relaxation of U.S. tensions with Cuba.
“I want to congratulate you again for you courage in taking steps to normalize relations with Cuba,” Colombian leader Juan Manuel Santos told Obama, according to a pool report, noting that it would have “very positive repercussions” for relations in the Americas.
Brazilian leader Dilma Rousseff also hailed the inclusion of Cuba in the summit and acknowledged Obama’s role in bringing the change about.
But leaders of a Venezuelan-led bloc of 11 nations took turns in flaying the United States and in criticizing Obama directly.
“I respect you but I don’t trust you, President Obama,” Maduro told the open session, adding that his diplomats would turn over a petition signed by 11 million of his countrymen urging the White House to repeal a March 9 executive order imposing sanctions on seven current and former Venezuelan officials and declaring Venezuela a national security threat to the United States.
“This decree is very dangerous,” Maduro said. “Everything that is said about them (the Venezuelan officials) is a lie. It’s false.”
While Maduro spoke, opponents near the convention center banged on empty metal pots in a traditional Latin American protest signaling their hunger and opposition.
Bolivian leader Evo Morales asserted that Washington still sees Latin America “not only as its backyard but its patrimony.”
McClatchy White House correspondent Lesley Clark contributed to this report.
Email: tjohnson@mcclatchydc.com; Twitter: @timjohnson4
Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2015/04/11/262887/historic-meeting-obama-cubas-castro.html#storylink=cpy
This has more to do with Nelson Mandela death and a way to honor him by forging a peace with Cuba. Cuba was instrumental in ending apartheid through their military aid.The U.S. is going to use the embassy as a CIA substation with signals intelligence and agents running around handing out satellite phones to dissidents.
The dissedents will be able to speak to handlers back in Langley.
The dissedents will be able to speak to handlers back in Langley.
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