Press Room
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 21, 2005
Contact: Andrés Mateo Jarrín, Venezuela Information Office
(202) 347-8081 x 601
Bipartisan Venezuelan National Assembly Delegation Visits Washington
(Washington, 4/21/05) Earlier this week, eight Venezuelan National Assembly members, both from President Hugo Chavez's party and the opposition, traveled to Washington, DC, for a series of meetings with US Congress members, State Department officials, media outlets, business groups, and Venezuelan diplomats, among others. The trip's purpose was to improve US-Venezuelan relations and discuss, as a bipartisan committee, ways of strengthening Venezuela's political, economic, and social condition.
The delegation's participants are members of the Boston Group, a bilateral interest group established in 2002 composed of Venezuelan and American members of Congress and financed by the Organization of American States (OAS) to strengthen cooperation between both countries, particularly to promote democratic values, dialogue, and common interests.
Deputies Calixto Ortega, Ricardo Gutiérrez, Francisco Solórzano, and Saúl Ortega represented President Chavez's Movimiento V República (MVR), while Deputies Leopoldo Puchi, Néstor López, Angel Vera, and Pedro Díaz Blum traveled for the opposition. The delegation has great symbolic importance as members of both sides reaffirmed their desire to work together as colleagues.
During a public event held yesterday at Georgetown University and sponsored by the Inter-American Dialogue, both sides, despite their marked ideological and political visions, showed clear interest in working together and with the United States to support Venezuela's democracy.
According to Pedro Díaz Blum, the group has sought to "look for points in which to coincide, shed light on the Venezuelan population's interests, and move forward together."
Calixto Ortega agreed with Díaz's assertions, affirming that the group, which emerged during a period of intense conflict in Venezuela, resembles a political "think-tank" where discussions may be held without interference from the government or the country's diverse political parties.
Deputy Ricardo Gutiérrez also expressed the government's desire for a healthy and vibrant opposition that may further strengthen Venezuela's democracy. According to Gutiérrez, "while Venezuela, for the most part, overcame this period of conflict...the government wants there to be an opposition."
Leopoldo Puchi also urged the Bush administration to not act unilaterally, but multilaterally, and maintain a neutral approach to Venezuela's relations with Colombia and other neighboring states.
Earlier in the week, the group met with several OAS officials, including President of the Permanent OAS Council Alberto Borea, Interim Secretary General Luigi Einaudi, and the Director of the Office for the Promotion of Democracy John Biehl. They also met with the Export-Import Bank and the Venezuelan American Chamber of Commerce.
The Venezuelan officials also held meetings with Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN), House Representative Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), and the State Department's Under-Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roger Noriega.
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government of Venezuela. More information is available from the FARA office
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Venezuela Information Office
733 15th Street NW, Suite 932
Washington, DC 20005
tel: (202) 347-8081
fax: (202) 347-8091
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