“Change” Moves North
Hollywood Loves Chavez Like they Love Obama.
Caracas – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez congratulated US president-elect Barack Obama Wednesday on his “historic” win and said the time had come for the two countries to establish new relations. Chavez emphasized Caracas’ will to “build, on the basis of absolute respect for sovereignty, a constructive bilateral agenda for the welfare of the Venezuelan and the US people,” according to a statement issued by the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry.
“In this day of hope for the American people, President Hugo Chávez, on behalf of the people of Venezuela, congratulates the people of the United States and President-elect Barack Obama for his important victory in an election that has captured the attention of international public opinion.”
If the Slander of Capitalist Countries to Defend Socialist Countries is Socialism, then Obama is a Socialist
“I think that Chavez has obviously been exploiting anti-American sentiment in the region and part of the reason is that because the United States has been so obsessed with Iraq that we haven’t spent time focused on the situation in Latin America,” Obama told Radio Caracol. “We spend the same amount in Latin America in an entire year that we spend in Iraq in one week. That has created, I think, a void which people like Chavez have been able to fill. I think it’s important for us to not overreact to Chavez. I think what we have to do is just let Chavez know that we don’t want him exporting anti-American sentiment and causing trouble in the region, but that we are interested in having a respectful dialogue with everybody in Latin America in terms of figuring out how we can improve the day to day lives of people.”
Hugo Chavez Has Always Called for an Obama Win
The day before the election, Mr. Chavez said that relations between Venezuela and the US, now at their lowest point in years, could improve in an Obama presidency.
During a televised speech on Sunday, Mr Chavez said he would meet with Mr Obama only “on equal and respectful terms.” He also recalled his ambassador from Washington and suggested that relations would not be fully restored until US President George W. Bush leaves the White House.
“Hopefully with Obama, we will enter a new phase,” Mr Chavez said.
He also expressed hope that, if Mr Obama wins the election, that “as a black man” he will end the 46-year-old US trade embargo on Cuba. ”We don’t ask him to be a revolutionary, we don’t ask him to be a socialist, only that, as a black man about to become president of the United States, he take his place in history,” Mr Chavez said. ”I hope the next (US) government will end that savage embargo and aggression against Cuba. That will be the test,” he said. Mr Chavez is virulently anti-American, and has described himself as the “political son” of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
Raw Data:
From a statement issued by the ”Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Ministry of People’s Power for Foreign Affairs”
In this day of hope for the American people, President Hugo Chávez, on behalf of the people of Venezuela, congratulates the people of the United States and President-elect Barack Obama for his important victory in an election that has captured the attention of international public opinion.
This historic election of an African American to lead the most powerful country in the world is a sign that the era of change which has taken root in South America could be reaching the doorstep of the United States. From the homeland of Simón Bolívar, we are convinced the time has come to establish new relations between our countries and in our region, based on the principles of respect for sovereignty, equality and true cooperation.
From every corner of the world cries have rung out calling for change in international relations and the construction, as the Liberator Simón Bolívar would have said, of a world of balance, peace and of human coexistence.
The government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela reaffirms its will and determination to build a constructive bilateral agenda, founded upon the absolute respect of sovereignty, for the well-being of the peoples of Venezuela and the United States.
Facts on Venezuela: From the CIA world factbook.
- Population below poverty line: 37.9%
Chavez Video
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