Obama May Use Chavez as First Test for Talking With Adversaries

[babylonsister]

Obama May Use Chavez as First Test for Talking With Adversaries

By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan


Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- In a mirrored office tower overlooking Caracas, a top Venezuelan official says his government is ready to accept Barack Obama’s offer to talk with U.S. adversaries -- if the president-elect scraps George W. Bush’s division of the world into friends and foes.

Such categories are “simplistic,” says Bernardo Alvarez, Venezuela’s former envoy to Washington. “Why do nations have to be friends? What we have to do is sit down and discuss issues.”

Venezuela may provide a useful first test for Obama’s pledge to engage rather than isolate antagonists. While Chavez is one of Washington’s noisiest critics, frayed relations would likely be easier to mend than those with nations such as Iran and Cuba, whose leaders are even more hostile toward the U.S.

Still, “Obama needs to be cautious” given Chavez’s inconsistent record on democracy, says Elsa Cardozo, an international-relations scholar at the Metropolitan University of Caracas. The 54-year-old former lieutenant colonel has allowed open elections and an opposition press while consolidating power over the government and selectively persecuting political rivals.

more...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=washingtonstory&sid=atCuTtQ6B1pM

[DS1]

1. I'm confused. Is he a Muslim or a Commie?

:rofl:

[bdamomma]

2. oh I can hear heads exploding now.

the other side is saying "he is talking with enemies" bring on the diplomatic talks!!!:

[roody]

3. Chavez is not hostile to the U.S. He doesn't like

the boy king.

[Broadslidin]

4. Wondering what black ops the CIA's "National Endowment for Democracy" have planned for the U.S....?

:nuke: :hide: :nuke:

[Renew Deal]

5. Chavez wants the propoganda of being seen with a popular american president.

Obama should call for no changes to allow Chavez to extend his term. We'll see if Chavez still wants to talk.

[madokie]

7. No Obama needs to stay out of Venezuela's politics

Thats between Chavez and the Venezuelans

[Renew Deal]

11. Maybe, but that's not the American way.

:patriot:

[JackRiddler]

8. Chavez may be more popular than Obama.

And it's propaganda.

[Renew Deal]

9. More popular with whom?

:shrug:

[JackRiddler]

13. With them:

[Renew Deal]

14. Chavez is more popular with the world than Obama?

Do you really believe that? The world barely takes Chavez seriously. He just needs to keep that oil flowing.

[JackRiddler]

6. "inconsistent record on democracy"

They found a professor in Caracas to say that about Chavez.

Funny, in New York or even Texas they could find 500 professors who'd say the US record on democracy is inconsistent (and even worse, horrors!) but they don't quote one of them.

[Renew Deal]

10. It's not a secret that Chavez wants to be president for life.

He talks about democracy, but he only means it when it benefits him. That's what makes him inconsistent.

[JackRiddler]

12. It's no secret that this would happen only if Venezuelans vote for it.

It's also no secret that the US opposes democracy most of the time in most of the world, regardless of whether the chief executive is periodically swapped out. May Obama make a change in this!

[Broadslidin]

15. The word "use" is an excellent example of this empire's lucifugous attitude toward South America.

As our 'carbonated sugar water' biz continues to
carry out contracts on Union Organizers
just outside the gates of the Bogota bottling plant...