Venezuela criticizes Obama's comments on Chavez

Posted on Friday, 12.14.12

Venezuela criticizes Obama's comments on Chavez
The Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela -- The government expressed outrage at U.S. President
Barack Obama on Friday for calling Hugo Chavez's policies
"authoritarian" at such a "delicate moment," with the Venezuelan
president recovering from a difficult cancer surgery.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said Obama's comments were further
damaging relations between the two nations and constituted another sign
of U.S. "aggression and disrespect."

Venezuela "demands respect from the president of the United States and
officials from his government for the dignity of the Venezuelan people,
its institutions and especially for the figure of Commander Hugo
Chavez," the statement said.

Obama said in an interview with WLTV Univision 23 in Miami on Thursday
when asked about his message for the Venezuelan people: "The most
important thing is to remember that the future of Venezuela should be in
the hands of the Venezuelan people. We've seen from Chavez in the past
authoritarian policies, suppression of dissent."

Obama said he wouldn't speculate on the medical condition of Chavez, who
underwent his fourth cancer-related operation in Cuba on Tuesday.

"We would want to see a strong relationship between our two countries,
but we're not going to change policies that prioritize making sure that
there's freedom in Venezuela," Obama said, according to a transcript.

Information Minister Ernesto Villegas read the government's response on
television Friday, saying that "Venezuela has become an authentic
democracy" during Chavez's government.

Venezuelans "openly exercise freedoms and rights that U.S. society is
far from reaching," the statement said.

"With his despicable statements in this very delicate moment for
Venezuela, the president of the United States takes the responsibility
of pushing bilateral relations toward increased deterioration, showing
evidence of the continuity of its policy of aggression and disrespect
toward our country," the statement said.

Chavez's government has long been embroiled in tensions with the U.S.
government, even as Venezuela has relied on the U.S. as a top market for
its oil.

The U.S. Embassy in Caracas has been without an ambassador since July
2010. Chavez rejected the U.S. nominee for ambassador, Larry Palmer,
accusing him of making disrespectful remarks about Venezuela's
government. That led Washington to revoke the visa of the Venezuelan
ambassador.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/14/3142467/venezuela-criticizes-obamas-comments.html