Over the issue of the US harboring a terrorist, the headline fails to note. From AP, Dec. 2:
Chavez snubs US overture for dialogue
President Hugo Chavez snubbed a US overture for dialogue, saying he is always willing to talk but he doubts Washington sincerely wants to improve relations.
Chavez, who overwhelmingly won another six-year term on Sunday, said if the US “empire” really wants to take meaningful steps, it would halt the war in Iraq and extradite a jailed Cuban militant wanted in Venezuela for an airliner bombing.
“They want dialogue but on the condition that you accept their positions,” Chavez said yesterday in his first news conference since the election, demanding that the US extradite Cuban militant Luis Posada Carriles, who is jailed in the United States.
Venezuela wants the former CIA operative to face trial in Caracas for the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people.
Chavez also said US President George W Bush, whom he frequently calls “the devil,” should quit because he has failed to reduce poverty and refuses to pull out of Iraq even though many Americans oppose the war.
“If the government of the United States wants dialogue, Venezuela will always have its door open,” he continued. “But I doubt the US government is sincere.”
Chavez’s comments came shortly after US Ambassador William Brownfield congratulated Venezuelans on a peaceful vote and expressed Washington’s willingness to seek a less conflictive relationship with Venezuela’s government.
“The president was re-elected by the decision of the Venezuelan people,” Brownfield said. “We recognize that and we’re ready, willing and eager to explore and see if we can make progress on bilateral issues.”
See our last posts on Venezuela and the Posada Carriles case.
