EFL- from Miami times.
Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, at the end of a three-day visit to Venezuela on Saturday, blasted President Hugo Chávez for aiding Colombian guerrillas, blocking a recall referendum sought by the opposition and ignoring a flourishing black market for passports and other official documents that could fall into the hands of terrorists. ’’We may reach the point where the U.S. has to treat this government as a hostile and unfriendly government to the U.S. and the U.S. interests,’’ said Nelson, a Democratic member of the Senates Foreign Relations Committee.
| Certain segments of the public — like most of us here — already regard Hugo's regime as hostile. Any time Congress is ready to hop on board, we'll be right behind them... |
Nelson described a tense conversation he had Saturday morning with Foreign Minister Jesús Pérez over allegations that Venezuela was assisting Colombian guerrillas such as the FARC. Pérez ’’said Venezuela had no ties to the guerrilla groups. I told him flat up that I respect your right to your opinion but that I disagree with you, and that is based on complete information, including intelligence that I have seen,’’ Nelson said. ``He was silent after that.’’
| Go, Bill! Slapped him, by Gum! |
Asked later to describe that intelligence, Nelson said: ``Obviously, I cant share the sources, but I can share the conclusion. We have plenty of evidence of participation by representatives of the Venezuelan government when the FARC is given safe haven to come across the border and communication with the FARC both inside Venezuela and in Colombia.’’ Venezuelan officials denied those allegations...
The criticism of Chávez by yet another top Democrat undermines Chávez's frequent claim that it is Bush and his Republican followers who are primarily responsible for his beef with the United States. A month ago, presidential candidate John Kerry issued a statement advocating tougher policies on Venezuela. Nelson and Pérez also discussed U.S. presidential politics, the senator said. According to Nelson, Pérez said that he did not think Kerry would be tough on Venezuela if he were elected president and chalked up the candidates harsh statement as election-year pandering to Cuban-American voters, many of whom abhor the Castro-Chávez alliance. ’I said, `I want to disabuse you of that because I know Sen. Kerry, and he in fact does believe what was stated on his website,’ Nelson recalled. ’I said, `Let me tell you something else: Sen. Kerry is not going to get most of that Cuban-American vote. Most of that Cuban-American vote will go to President Bush, so he does not need to pander to that vote.’ ’’ Nelson said, however, that Kerry would still seek Cuban-American votes. ``He may not get a majority of the Cuban-American vote, but he will get a good portion.’’ |