Venezuela Says U.S. Envoy Provoked Row

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuela on Thursday accused the American ambassador of acting "irresponsibly" by hosting a conference on press freedoms during which foes of Hugo Chavez made fun of the president.

Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said Venezuela would not allow the incident to further damage already rocky relations with the United States.

Ambassador Charles Shapiro hosted a gathering of Venezuelan journalism associations and unions at his residence Tuesday.

At the meeting, Shapiro expressed concern about "deteriorating press freedoms" in Venezuela, citing unpunished attacks on dozens of journalists last year. Also during the meeting, a humorist disguised as a prominent anti-Chavez journalist held up a puppet of Chavez and ridiculed the president.

"What is the purpose of putting on this show? Offend the government? Offend the president? I think it's the Venezuelan people who were offended," Rangel said.

Rangel said Venezuela would consider the event an act of "personal irresponsibility" on Shapiro's part. But he urged the United States to explain Shapiro's behavior, saying Venezuela couldn't dismiss the possibility that Washington was deliberately trying to provoke Chavez's government.

In a statement released Thursday, the U.S. embassy said it "regretted that some people felt offended" by the event.

The humorist's presentation "seemed to us in bad taste because of its political content," the statement said. "The embassy does not know in advance nor does it censure what its guests are going to say, whether it's an invited speaker or humorist."

"The words of Ambassador Shapiro, and no one else's, express the point of view of the United States embassy," it added.

Relations between the United States and Venezuela have often been tense during Chavez's four-year government.

In 2001, the Venezuelan leader criticized civilian casualties in the U.S.-led attack on Afghanistan. The leftist former paratrooper has irked Washington by strengthening ties with Cuba and Libya. In 2000, he became the first head of state to visit then-Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein after the 1991 Gulf War.

Exchange controls keep Miss Venezuela from pageant -[Full Text]CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela's tight foreign exchange controls have stopped the South American country's candidate from competing in the Miss Universe beauty pageant, her main sponsor says.

Venezuela's private television channel Venevision said on Thursday that Miss Venezuela -- brown-haired Mariangel Ruiz -- would not attend the Miss Universe contest in Panama on June 3 because they were unable to obtain the hard currency needed to send her.

Venevision, which traditionally sponsors the country's candidates, sent a letter on Thursday to the president of the Miss Universe Organisation, Paula Shugart, advising her that Ruiz would not be going.

"We are all saddened that Mariangel Ruiz (Miss Venezuela 2003) will not be participating. Venezuela has a very strong following and the country's absence this year will be deeply felt," Shugart responded in a statement sent to Reuters by Venevision.

Venezuelan women have had a remarkable success in such contests, winning four Miss Universe crowns, five Miss World crowns and three Miss International crowns.

Mariangel Ruiz poses enroute to being crowned Miss Venezuela 2002 in Caracas, in this September 20, 2002 file photo. REUTERS/Chico Sanchez

Left-wing President Hugo Chavez introduced stringent foreign exchange controls more than three months ago to stem heavy capital flight and a slide in the bolivar currency triggered by an opposition strike in December and January.

Ruiz told Globovision television she was still hoping a last-minute arrangement could allow her to compete in Panama. "I represent a dream and a hope for Venezuela," she said. [End]

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