http://jameswolcott.com/archives/2005/04/some_call_him_v.phpSome Call Him "Venezuelan Strongman," I Call Him "Truthteller Supremo"
Saying that U.S. citizens are oppressed by their own government, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez promised Friday that he would not visit the United States again until Americans 'liberate' their nation.
"Chavez, in Havana for trade talks, told an international gathering of activists here that before an earlier trip to Cuba, a U.S. State Department undersecretary he did not identify warned him not to go because he would no longer be received in Washington.
"He said he went ahead with that trip anyway, and later traveled to the United States to visit U.S. President George W. Bush, who he said greeted him with a Coca-Cola in his hand.
"'I have not returned, nor do I think about returning again, until the people of the United States liberate that nation,' said Chavez, saying that Americans are 'oppressed' by their government and U.S. media."
Gee, after all those decades in which the U.S. was accused of engaging in Coca-Colonization, greeting the Venezuelan president with a Coke and a smile probably wasn't the swiftest diplomatic move.
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