News
Chávez Blames Bush, Not U.S.
By Charlotte H. Hall
Orlando Sentinel
May 18, 2008
CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chávez says Venezuela's beef with the United States is all about George Bush, and the government will reach out quickly to the new American president.
In a wide-ranging interview Thursday with a group of visiting American newspaper editors, Chávez said he respected the American people and wished to "beg for forgiveness if in my speech I have hurt any feelings back in the States."
He said his criticism is aimed at "the elite that is governing the United States, and not even all the elite."
Of the American presidential candidates, Chávez said, "It would be a lie to say I have no preference." But "I shouldn't say anything that would be used against someone."
Chávez wants to start immediate exchanges with whoever is elected. "It is through talking that we can then come closer and share and compare our views and then reach an agreement."
Chávez said he had been able to talk with President Clinton about many topics, "but after that everything broke to pieces."
The Venezuelan president said he first met President Bush in Canada and told him, in English, "I want to be your friend." But his efforts were rebuffed even when other heads of state served as intermediaries, including the then-president of Mexico, Vicente Fox.
"Even good friends could not get Bush to sit down and talk," Chávez said.
Sounding his frequent theme of a global war on poverty, Chávez said he wants to work with the United States and other countries on health, food production and education, "forgetting about ideology."
Family photos and coffee
The rare interview with American journalists took place in an ornate reception room at the presidential palace, Miraflores, where larger-than-life wall paintings of Venezuelan historical heroes, including Simón Bolívar, appeared to be gazing down on the group.
In contrast, Chávez wore a casual khaki jacket and red T-shirt, the signature color of what he terms his "Bolivarian revolution." Informal photographs of his children and grandchildren adorned tables against one wall, and after the formal interview, he moved from picture to picture talking about each family member.
Chávez personally greeted each visitor, a group of 20 representing the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the largest association of directing editors. The editors sipped coffee as Chávez talked animatedly about topics ranging from politics to baseball and told dramatic stories, including how he narrowly escaped assassination after a coup in 2002. When Chávez wanted a coffee refill, he pressed a buzzer under a side table, and a woman appeared with a fresh cup.
At the end of the interview, Chávez warmly invited the group to come again and bussed the women's cheeks, a Venezuelan custom.
Earlier in the week, U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela Patrick Duddy told the editors that, although it is "an extremely difficult moment" in relations between the two countries, the relationship is broader and deeper than the differences on politics.
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NOTE: The Venezuela Information Office is dedicated to informing the American
public about contemporary Venezuela, and receives its funding from the
government of Venezuela. More information is available from the FARA office
of the Department of Justice in Washington DC.
Venezuela Information Office
2000 P Street NW, Suite 240
Washington, DC 20036
tel: (202) 347-8081
fax: (202) 223-8029
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