Negroponte: An implied threat to Hugo Chavez?

[Nikki Stone1]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070503/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_venezuela


(BTW, note how the don't identify Negroponte right away.)

Official says Chavez can't keep spending

By GEORGE GEDDA, Associated Press Writer Wed May 2, 9:10 PM ET

WASHINGTON - The State Department's No. 2 official said Wednesday that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez cannot continue spending billions of dollars helping other countries while he faces so much "blatant poverty" at home.

"Sooner or later these policies will fail," Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte told a State Department gathering. He said Venezuela's long-term prospects are not good because Chavez is neglecting "the wealth-producing portions" of the economy.

Negroponte took note of Chavez's anti-American rhetoric and said it would be a mistake for the United States to respond in kind. "It's important that we not rise to the bait," he said.

When Negroponte took office in early March, Chavez labeled him a "professional killer" and said the possibility of a "death plot" against him "gained weight" with Negroponte's shift to the State Department after serving as director of national intelligence.

Negroponte spoke to a meeting of the Council of the Americas, a U.S. business organization that supports free trade. His comments about Venezuela came in response to a question.

Chavez, taking advantage of high oil prices, has spent billions trying to gain support in Latin America for his "21st Century socialism" agenda and to weaken American influence in the region. His closest ally in the hemisphere is ailing Cuban President Fidel Castro.

Negroponte said the best way to counter Chavez would be for the United States and Latin America's democracies to adopt a common approach "so that we are more or less singing from the same page."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has asked Negroponte, a former ambassador to Mexico and Honduras, to advise her on Latin American issues.

He is closely identified with U.S. policies in Central America in the 1980s, having served as ambassador to Honduras at a time when Washington was backing anti-communist rebels in neighboring Nicaragua. U.S. military aid to Honduras sharply increased during the period.

Negroponte will make his first trip to Latin America as deputy secretary next week, visiting Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Panama.

[Selatius]

1. I think the oil price disputes Negroponte's assertion.

Something tells me 2007 is going to be a record-breaking year in terms of gas and oil prices.

[Nikki Stone1]

4. Me, too

It's gonna be a long summer

[sam sarrha]

2. they dont call him the Butcher of Guatemala for nothing.. his Handy work is known all thru the

Americas, El Salvador, Nicaragua.. raped and murdered nuns... he is a hideous psychopath, but typical of the psychopaths the * family surounds themselves with

[ClintonTyree]

3. There's another country that does something quite like this.....

"spending billions of dollars helping other countries while he faces so much "blatant poverty" at home". I wonder what country that is? It's right on the tip of my tongue, just give me a minute, I'll come up with it.

Two words, Negroponte...... NEW ORLEANS! :grr:

[Saboburns]

5. Sigh

Watching the vilification of Hugo Chavez has taught me a great deal about the history of this country.

Many things make sense to me now.

I see how the game is played.

As it were.


WE MUST INVADE VENEZUELA TO RID THE VENEZUELANS OF THEIR LEFTIST DICTATOR.

Uh-Huh.

Yep.

It ain't a pretty sight.

[madokie]

6. negroponte worries me, Hugo is my friend

he's trying to help his fellow citizens and I like that for the most part.