Venezuela Says Clinton’s Remarks Reflect “Profound Lack of Knowledge of Our Reality”

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Source: Venezuela Analysis

Venezuela Says Clinton’s Remarks Reflect “Profound Lack of Knowledge of Our Reality”

July 9th 2009, by James Suggett

Mérida, July 9th 2009 (Venezuelanalysis.com) -- In an official statement on Wednesday, the Venezuelan Foreign Relations Ministry said U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's remarks on Venezuelan democracy during an interview with the opposition television station Globovision constituted a throwback to past U.S. policy and put into question the sincerity of the Obama administration as the two countries renew their shaky diplomatic relations.

"In a moment in which efforts are being made to improve the relationship with the United States government, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton repeats the old practice of giving recipes and emitting evaluations of Venezuelan democracy," stated the Ministry.

"The insinuations of the Secretary of State reflect a profound lack of knowledge of our reality," the Ministry's statement continued. "It is difficult to believe in the sincerity of intention of recomposing bilateral relations."

In Washington on Tuesday, Clinton met with two prominent Venezuelan opposition leaders, Alberto Ravell, the owner of the ardently oppositionist television station Globovision, and Leopoldo Castillo, the host of a talk show on Globovision and former Venezuelan ambassador to El Salvador. Castillo has been accused of assisting U.S.-backed death squads in El Salvador during the 1980s.

In an interview that was later broadcast on national television in Venezuela, Castillo asked Clinton what the official U.S. position would be "if the Venezuelan government permanently shut down an independent media." Clinton responded, "Part of what we hope to see over the next months in Venezuela is a recognition that you can be a very strong leader and have very strong opinions without trying to take on too much power and trying to silence all your critics."

In recent years, the government of President Hugo Chavez has sanctioned several private media outlets for breaking laws on social responsibility in the media. In 2007, the government did not renew the expired broadcasting license of a prominent opposition-aligned channel, RCTV, which had participated in a two-day coup d'etat led by elite business and military leaders against Chavez in 2002. Globovision and the U.S. government also backed the coup and immediately recognized the coup government.

Read more: http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/4609