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March 24, 2005

Venezuelan officials challenge Bush policies during Hub visit

Jeremy Schwab

After Hugo Chavez tried to take the reins of power in Venezuela by coup, then won election as that country’s president following his release from prison, he won few friends in the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush.

Chavez’s regime ended its predecessors’ cozy oil relationship with the United States, instead selling Venezuela’s petroleum to the United States at the same price charged elsewhere. The Venezuelan government became one of the most vocal critics of the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas, for which Bush has lobbied.

Bush and Chavez also have severe ideological differences. The former is a free-market capitalist, the latter a social democrat who believes the government should redistribute resources to the poor.

When opponents staged a short-lived coup to replace Chavez, the United States quickly recognized the conspirators only to see a wave of popular support bring Chavez back to power.

Determined to improve the way their government is perceived by the U.S. public, officials from Chavez’s regime visited Boston last week to sow good will and revamp the sign over the Charles River bearing the name of their national oil company, Citgo.

During an address at Harvard University’s Taubman Building, Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Vice Minister Maria Pilar Hernandez ticked off a list of social, economic and educational achievements.

“In Caracas, until recently, people often died without the chance to see a doctor,” she told the mostly Spanish-speaking crowd, with a smattering of Anglophones tuned in via an interpreter. “[The previous regime] invested a lot of money to create big hospitals where there is very expensive technology, but they only took care of people who lived close to the institutes. Poor people who lived far away didn’t have access.

“We are going to poor neighborhoods, bringing doctors to the towns. We are training doctors in social medicine.”

She listed other new programs, such as six-month scholarships to study trades and micro-credit loans so people can start businesses out of their homes.

She challenged her audience to question the Bush administration’s posture toward Chavez’s government.

“For whom is Venezuela a threat?” she asked. “Not for the poor or the unemployed. We have good relationships with Columbia, Brazil, the countries of the Caribbean, Spain, France.

“Is Venezuela a threat to the United States?” she asked. “Since Chavez came to power, instead of decreasing, trade between our two countries has increased. Democrats and Republicans in Congress have visited Venezuela and President Chavez. Don’t worry, we are not going to invade the United States.”

When the laughter died down, Pilar Hernandez tossed veiled barbs at Bush.

“Venezuela is a threat for people who think there is only one way of thinking, and this way must be imposed on everybody,” she said. “It is a threat to people who don’t believe in investing in social programs that will improve the economy of a country. Venezuela is a threat to everybody who uses terrorists as a way to get their political way.”

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