Note first three news stories dated 16 Jan:
1: Lula & Chavez reportedly call for Obama to look at Latin America with respect and without prejudice
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8099802&mesg_id=81000132: The US embassy in Venezuela says it expects a thaw in US-Venezuela relations
3: El Universal reports Reuters is reporting that Obama now accuses Chavez of supporting terrorists
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8099802&mesg_id=8102073Let us next note several news stories dated the following day, 17 Jan:
4: Chavez reacts to story 3 (various versions)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3695851&mesg_id=3695851http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8099802Stories 1 & 2 appear to be consistent with expected behavior during a change of US administration. On the other hand, story 3 exists in a vacuum: nobody else is reporting it, and it seems inconsistent with story 2; moreover, Obama would gain no obvious advantage by making such undiplomatic claims only a few days before taking office. Doubt regarding the veracity of 3 is further supported by text in one of the stories discussing 4:
"He's said I'm an obstacle for progress in Latin America," Chavez said ... It was unclear what comments Chavez could be referring tohttp://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3696189&mesg_id=3696189But, of course, it is entirely clear (from the above) what Chavez refers to in 4 (although this may not be known to the author of the text I just cited): Chavez refers to the El Universal story 3
Let us now examine Chavez's reaction 4: it is claimed that Chavez is saying something like
Obama stinks just like Bush, although it is quite plausible that Chavez is hinting that the story 3
smells like the handiwork of Bush. In fact, the second reading is supported by Chavez's further comments, warning Obama that imperialists can be brutal when they want their own way:
"Oigan esto que voy a decir, si Obama, el presidente de los Estados Unidos, no obedeciera el mandato del imperio, a Obama lo matan, como mataron a Kennedy, como mataron a Martin Luther King, como mataron al mismísimo Abraham Lincoln", dijo Chávezhttp://lta.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idLTASIE50G0Q320090117?sp=truehttp://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE50G2F420090118Whether one actually wants to agree with the view that
imperialists can be brutal when they want their own way, is a separate question, and addressing it here would only detract from analysis
To recapitulate, everyone was making
let's make nice noises, until El Universal in Venezuela, apparently alone among the world's media, reported an alleged Reuters story, according to which Obama calls Chavez a terrorist supporter. At this point, Chavez reacted off-the-cuff, perhaps saying something rather like
I can smell Bush in this Obama statement while warning Obama that imperialists can be dangerous
The question that remains is the provenance of the story 3, which by now looks suspicious. Although Obama did criticize Chavez in the first part of 2008, it is entirely inconceivable that he has taken time, in recent days -- when he engaged in moves from Chicago to DC hotel to Blair House while preparing to occupy the White House, occupied by preinaugural and inaugural preparations, and readying himself for the Oval office on the 20th -- to take time to launch an undiplomatic and inflammatory broadside against Chavez, especially since the story 2 indicates his transition team has already prepped the diplomatic corp to improve US-Venezuelan relations. Since the story 3 has essentially no credibility as recent news, the question arises:
how did it end up in El Universal on 16 Jan? The story came from somewhere, perhaps the fertile imagination of El Universal's editors, but a fifth recent news story suggests another source:
5: Did Venezuela's Opposition Meet with US Officials in Puerto Rico?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=405&topic_id=10970&mesg_id=10970Suspicions that the Bush administration, in its last days, continues to develop plans to interfere in Venezuela, lead naturally to the suspicion that the story 3 was carefully crafted and planted in El Universal as a form of psychological warfare against the Venezuelan government. Whether one actually accepts such suspicions as having some grain of truth, again, is a separate question, and addressing it here would again only detract from analysis. However, it is quite plausible that Chavez might take such a view -- and that could explain the
misma miasma language:
it is the old familiar stink