Posted on 04/12/2002 8:50:45 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Friday accused the Venezuelan government of ousted President Hugo Chavez of provoking a crisis by ordering Chavez supporters to fire on peaceful demonstrators.
The White House was clearly pleased by the toppling from power of Chavez, whose left-leaning policies frequently angered the U.S. government. Chavez resigned under pressure from military leaders after a huge protest march in Caracas in which at least 10 people were killed and 100 wounded.
"Details are still unclear, but what we do know is that the actions encouraged by the Chavez government provoked a crisis. According to the best information we have, the government suppressed what was a peaceful demonstration of the people," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.
He said Chavez government supporters on orders fired on unarmed, peaceful protesters, resulting in 10 killed and 100 wounded.
He said the United States expressed solidarity with the Venezuelan people and looked forward to working with democratic forces in Venezuela to "restore the essential elements of democracy."
The folks at Langley did a good job. Real good. They've earned their year-end bonuses. :)
Otto Juan Reich was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs on January 11, 2002. He has spent over 30 years in hemispheric affairs, in government, private enterprise, and the U.S. military.
From 1989 to 2001, Ambassador Reich was in private practice, advising U.S. and multinational clients on government relations, market access and strategic planning, as a partner in the Brock Group and later as President of his own consulting firm.
From 1986 to 1989 Ambassador Reich served as U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela, for which he received the highest awards of both the State Department and the Republic of Venezuela. As Special Adviser to the Secretary of State from 1983-1986, he established and managed the inter-agency Office of Public Diplomacy for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Department of State, which received the Department's Meritorious Honor Award.
From 1981 to 1983 he was Assistant Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in charge of U.S economic assistance to Latin America and the Caribbean. In 1991 and 1992, as a private citizen and at the request of President George H.W. Bush, Ambassador Reich served as Alternate U.S. Representative to the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva.
His prior experience includes service as Washington Director of the Council of the Americas; Community Development Coordinator for the City of Miami, Florida; International Representative of the State of Florida Department of Commerce; and staff assistant in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Ambassador Reich's military service included duty as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army (1967-1969) in the 3rd Civil Affairs Detachment (Airborne), Panama Canal Zone. He received a Bachelor's degree in International Studies from the University of North Carolina (1966) and a Master's degree in Latin American Studies from Georgetown University (1973). He has appeared regularly in U.S. and Latin America news media and was co-host of CNN International's "Choque de Opiniones," a Spanish-language version of CNN's "Crossfire."
Ambassador Reich has been a Director of numerous private and non-profit corporations.
Events abroad are more germane to the fight for liberty here than most folks realize.
Venezuela's Power Shift Condemned*** Chavez's ouster threw into doubt the budding trade relationship between the two countries. Venezuela is Cuba's No. 1 trade partner. Venezuela had been exporting 53,000 barrels of oil to Cuba daily at preferential terms. CNN's Spanish language network showed Edgar Paredes of Venezuela's oil company saying on Friday, "We aren't going to send a single barrel more to Cuba."****
EX-president of Venezuelan state oil company accuses government of eroding morale ***Other bones of contention were the central government's demand that the company hand over $4.4 billion in dividends last year, forcing PDVSA to borrow $500 million to pay the bill; and the oil sales to Cuba, whose leader, Fidel Castro, is Chavez's longtime mentor. · Chavez has insisted that oil sales continue to Cuba, despite an unpaid $97 million bill for past sales. ***
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This will put some pressure on Castro. Who will foot the bill for Castro's oil now - Saddam?
I wonder, would we set up a blockade? After all, this would be one terrorist helping another terrorist 90 miles from our shore.
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