Obama: After Chavez, U.S. Seeks 'Constructive Relationship' With Venezuela

[Purveyor]

Source: REUTERS

U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday said the United States is interested in starting a new relationship with Venezuela after the death of its socialist president, Hugo Chavez.

"At this challenging time of President Hugo Chavez's passing, the United States reaffirms its support for the Venezuelan people and its interest in developing a constructive relationship with the Venezuelan government," Obama said in a statement.

"As Venezuela begins a new chapter in its history, the United States remains committed to policies that promote democratic principles, the rule of law, and respect for human rights," he said.

--CLIP
Chavez easily won a new six-year term at an election in October and his death will devastate millions of supporters who adored his charismatic style, anti-U.S. rhetoric and oil-financed policies that brought subsidized food and free health clinics to long-neglected slums.


Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/news/world/obama-after-chavez-u-s-seeks-constructive-relationship-with-venezuela-1.507537

[magellan]

1. I'm sorry

But knowing what I do, having watched the last 10 years, I find this very hollow:

"the United States remains committed to policies that promote democratic principles, the rule of law, and respect for human rights,"

[Purveyor]

3. Indeed. Venezuela will be best served staying their present course and run like hell from any US

influence.

[Whisp]

5. Kerry is SoS now, I think that should make better change. n/t

[Judi Lynn]

12. A Venezuelan right-wing group of "exiles" in Tampa Bay took credit for Kerry's position already.

Here's a letter from their grubby President, Curtis Reed:

Letters

Published: Tuesday, March 23, 2004
Bylined to: Curtis Reed

Tampa-based Free Venezuela, Inc: Our goal is regime change in Venezuela

Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2004 17:39:42 GMT
From: Curtis Reed [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Error: It was Venezuelans in TAMPA

In David Coleman's article "Venezuela's relations with USA to improve if Bush 2 loses election this fall" you stated that Senator Kerry's statement regarding the Chavez regime amounted to "Parroting anti-Venezuelan Miami Herald propaganda."

In fact, the Kerry position statement was the result of the effort of Venezuelan-Americans from the Tampa area who contacted his camp and conducted an education campaign to be sure that Kerry understood what a threat the Chavez regime represents to US interests, regional stability, and how it endangers democracy across the hemisphere.

We have been working constantly over several years to establish good contacts with our representatives, and it was through those contacts that we made direct contact with John Kerry and delivered to him the message you will find below.

We are now in the process of publishing more Op-Ed articles, organizing round table discussions about the Chavez regime, and speaking out on nationally syndicated radio shows. Let there be no confusion: the "Miami Mafia" had nothing to do with this. It was the result of hard work by US citizens and Venezuelan expatriate organizations like FREE VENEZUELA that we influenced Kerry, and we will continue to push US policy until we achieve our goal.

Our goal: regime change in Venezuela.

Finally, let your communist friends know that their propaganda machines are failing, and the tide has turned against the Chavez dictatorship. We have convinced Democrats and Republicans alike that Chavez and his criminal henchmen are the antithesis to Democratic principles.

Have a nice day.

Curtis Reed
[e-mail]

http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=16656
(Free registration required)

[Pterodactyl]

21. You must mean for six of the past ten years. Not 2009 to present, right?

[magellan]

22. I meant what I wrote. n/t

[Pterodactyl]

23. Whoa, dude, you're hard core!

[magellan]

28. It's sad that anyone thinks it's "hard core"

...to be just as critical of this administration as the previous one.

[Pterodactyl]

34. Huh?!? Things are WAY better now. What is there to be critical about?

[SkyDaddy7]

40. I too would like to see...

what this person thinks the Obama Administration has done to poor Chavez? I think some folks here on DU think if Obama is not caressing Chavez as he laid dying in bed then he is the enemy.

It amazes me that all Chavez had to do is use a little bit of the oil money for good use & he is absolved of any wrong doing at all!

Chavez is gone I think for the better.

[magellan]

44. If you'd bothered reading my original reply

...you'd see I commented on the general hollow ring to Obama's words as far as our own government's actions go, not on his specific treatment of Chavez. I haven't shared any opinion about Chavez on this thread.

[leftynyc]

45. I agree

I don't like what he did with the press, I don't like that he was pals with Ahmadinijad and Assad - two leaders that think nothing at all of killing their citizens. His treatment of the Jews of Venezuela was disgusting (that's why almost half left the country). Are the poor better off now than when he started? I'm not sure of that at all.

He hated Bush and Israel and talked a good game and that's more than enough for some here.

[SkyDaddy7]

47. Exactly!!

He went after Bush & that is all many here on DU need to excuse all the other truly disgusting things he did to his own people. And YES he most certainly run a huge number of Jews out of the country by constantly harassing them & making them feel very unsafe. The whole purpose was to get them to leave & he got much of what he wanted. SAD!!

[dipsydoodle]

2. Read as

the United States remains committed to the corporate takeover of Latin American countries and Venezuela is ripe for picking.

[timdog44]

6. The way you say it,

is the interpretation of

"the United States remains committed to policies that promote democratic principles, the rule of law, and respect for human rights."

[NeoConsSuck]

14. + 100,000 !!

Venezuelans should turn their backs on any overtures from the USA if they're smart (and I believe they are).

[Cleita]

4. Yes, we look forward to Chevron and the rest of the oil companies being allowed back in to do

business like they did before Chavez. I will be surprised if there is not an attempt by the oil industry to get everything they had to give up back.

[roxy1234]

18. And IMF

You know Kerry is running around selling IMF loans to newly "liberated" countries.

+100

[dipsydoodle]

41. Who needs the IMF when you've got China onboard as Venezuela has.

China lent them $32 billion repayable in oil over a period of time. That was a constructive use of China's dollar holdings - currently over $1 trillion.

[roxy1234]

42. True

But you can never be too rich/in debt not to need an IMF load. Heck they were trying to sell Gaddafi IMF loans even as he was loaning money to other African countries.

[Arctic Dave]

7. Obama couldn't sound less interested if he tried.

WTF does he mean by "developing a constructive relationship". What the fuck was the hold up to having one when he was alive. Where you pissed that he dissed your buddy bush?

FFS Obama, try not to sound like another neo-liberal asshole next time.

I have zero faith that Obama wouldn't condemn a coup like he did with Nicaraugua.

[dipsydoodle]

8. Wheras in the UK

On hearing of the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Foreign Secretary William Hague offered his condolences.

I was saddened to learn of the death of President Hugo Chavez today. As President of Venezuela for 14 years he has left a lasting impression on the country and more widely. I would like to offer my condolences to his family and to the Venezuelan people at this time.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/foreign-secretary-offers-condolences-on-death-of-hugo-chavez

Note the difference.

[Comrade Grumpy]

36. That was a bit more human. And I don't usually have nice things to say about Mr. Hague.

[bemildred]

9. Same old same old, eh? nt

[magic59]

10. I only wish we had a president like Hugo Chavez

instead of another weak kneed corporate puppet.

[Purveyor]

11. I'm not going to touch that my friend, I'm already on the 'team watchlist' so I need tread lightly.

[magic59]

13. Been there, done that

The truth hurts but I like to tell it like it is.

[pam4water]

15. What is the team watchlist?

[Demeter]

19. Second that!

And frankly, I don't give a damn....

[Selatius]

20. We did, once. He was called Franklin D. Roosevelt, the most popular president in American history nt

[David__77]

29. Indeed, Chavez channeled FDR very well.

They were both democrats and reformers.

[phleshdef]

25. Keyboard warriors such as yourself aren't fit to hold up Obama's jock.

[Jamaal510]

27. For somebody who is supposedly a "corporate puppet",

it's funny that Obama had all that money spent against him in this past election by Sheldon Adelson and the Koch Brothers.

[Cha]

32. Your post is ignorant of the Facts. I wish you could have

lived in Venezuela and had Chavez for your President.

I'm glad we have President Obama here in my country.

[jakefrep]

43. No thanks....

I like freedom of speech and the press.

[Judi Lynn]

16. Venezuela mourns Chavez’s death

Venezuela mourns Chavez’s death
Wed, 06 Mar 2013 1:08p.m.

By Fabiola Sanchez and Frank Bajak

Some in anguish, some in fear, Venezuelans raced for home after the government announced the death of President Hugo Chavez, the firebrand socialist who led the nation for 14 years.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro's voice broke and tears ran down his face as he appeared on national television to announce that Chavez died at 4:25pm local time "after battling hard against an illness over nearly two years."

He did not say what exactly killed Chavez, although the government had announced the previous night that a severe new respiratory infection had severely weakened him.

Just a few hours earlier, Maduro made a virulent speech against enemies he claimed were trying to undermine Venezuelan democracy.

But as he announced the death, Maduro called on Venezuelans to be "dignified inheritors of the giant man" Chavez was.

More:
http://www.3news.co.nz/Venezuela-mourns-Chavezs-death-PHOTOS/tabid/417/articleID/289188/Default.aspx#ixzz2MiXSr1df

[Elmergantry]

24. One can hope it only gets better from here NT

[kelliekat44]

26. Well, if he had tried, he could have had a constructive relationship with Venezu

BEFORE Chavez took ill and died. Our only constructive relationship will involve restoring the oligarch to power there, like we tried to do in Cuba. So look for the sanctions to begin as we ruin another socialist country trying to help its people.

[Alamuti Lotus]

30. fucking vultures aren't taking too long, now are they..

combine this statement with news that some official from the nest of vipers in the Embassy is being expelled for attempting to plot with military officers for destabilization, and it becomes clear that American bullshit business-as-usual is as alive as ever. Hope that Maduro is fit for this task of historical importance laid before him, because the attacks are clearly already beginning.

[SamKnause]

31. Hugo Chavez 4

President Obama didn't even have the decency to send his condolences to the millions in Venezuela who have lost their great leader.

What a piss poor fictional statement from our president.

"Rule of law and respect for human rights", seriously ?

How did that work out for OWS, Julian Assange, Bradley Manning and countless others ?

How many people on Wall Street have been arrested ?

Why did you interfere with foreign countries that tried to hold the Bush administration accountable for their crimes against humanity ?

What a load of bullshit.

We know exactly what kind of relationship you would like develop with Venezuela.

"American Democracy" (what a load of crap) with the intention of raping the wealth of the Venezuelan people by any means necessary and turning over all profits to corporations and bankers.

I don't think American politicians even know the definition of democracy or freedom.

The United States corrupt and dangerous political circus infuriates me.

[Zorro]

33. What's going to happen to Hugo's billion dollar estate?

[happyslug]

46. It would be good to have a SOURCE for your claim of a Billion Dollar estate

The only thing I could find was an OPINION PIECE that cited the CJIAUSA as its source:
http://real-agenda.com/2013/03/05/wealth-redistribution-hugo-chavez-style/

But when I went to the CIUAYUSA web cite, I could only find other opinion pieces that Chavez and his family stole millions and are worth over a billion dollars, not data, no sources, just they opinion, along with a similar opinion as to Castro and his family stealing all the wealth of Cuba, again no facts, no source, just opinion:

http://www.cjiausa.org/

An example of such an opinion piece, it does mention real money transactions, but more in the form of Government to a politcal group that Chavez's government favored. That sounds like GOVERNMENT money not personal wealth:
http://mexidata.info/id3330.html

[davidthegnome]

35. Are we at war with Venezuela?

If we are, no one told me about it.

So why is it that the President either will not or cannot offer sympathy or sorrow or at least the pretense of it in response to the death of a much beloved leader? Regardless of what we may think personally of Chavez, or of his policies, it is somewhat telling that the President's response is so coldly neutral and seems to contain some poorly concealed contempt. Perhaps it's simply the official line, maybe it's what his handlers told him to say... in any event, it seems a rather inappropriate reaction to the circumstances.

I don't know enough about Chavez's overall policies, or enough about Venezuela itself, to either admire or despise Chavez. I know that some of his anti-poverty efforts though, had an effect right here in the US, in helping citizens in poverty pay for oil...

I'm not going to weep or cheer, but I do think that the President's words might have been more carefully, or tactfully chosen.

[Judi Lynn]

38. You're not alone here, be sure of that. Time to get the fuck out off ALL Latin America. n/t

[Tempest]

39. I once again want to thank you

You've been an excellent source of information and for your tireless pursuit to expose the imperialism which is preventing Latin America from thriving and progressing.