Smartmatic's HUGO CHAVEZ meeting with HIS HANDLER GEORGE BUSH
Couple of weeks after Dubya's inauguration
had a vague recollection of George Bush and Hugo Chavez meeting. Was thinking it was W but acktually it was Bush 41.
At the same time this meeting was going on, 43 met with Mexican president Vicente Fox. Almost like they are planning something
Venezuela Gets Bush Visit, Too
By Karen DeYoung
February 16, 2001
As his son sits down today with Mexican President Vicente Fox, former president George Bush will have an opportunity for some Latin American diplomacy of his own, meeting in Caracas with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
The visit with Chavez was arranged by a leading Venezuelan businessman, Gustavo Cisneros, who is hosting Bush on a private fishing vacation in Venezuela's Amazon region. Chavez announced the meeting, to be held this morning at the presidential residence La Casona, on his weekly radio program last weekend.
Officials in the White House, the State Department and former president Bush's office in Houston would not characterize the meeting as official. "It is simply a courtesy call," a Houston spokesman said.
But the visit has undeniable symbolic importance and has given rise to speculation particularly in Venezuela that "Bush 41," as the 41st president is known around the White House, is assuming a new role as diplomatic envoy for "Bush 43."
At a conference last weekend in Cancun with his counterparts from Mexico and Colombia, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jose Vincente Rangel (who yesterday changed jobs and became defense minister) mentioned the visit approvingly. Chavez noted on the radio that the man with whom he would be "chatting" is "the father of the current president, George W."
The United States and Venezuela have dealt with each other warily in recent years, especially since Chavez, a former paratrooper and admirer of Fidel Castro, took office in December 1998.
In addition to hosting Castro effusively in Caracas late last year, Chavez met with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Chavez also has been a leader in OPEC's drive to raise crude oil prices and resisted Washington's efforts to extend its anti-drug campaign over his borders.
Chavez's rhetorical support for Colombia' s leftist guerrillas amid allegations of more substantive backing and his opposition to U.S. military aid for Bogota have strained relations between the neighboring Andean countries.
But relations have started to improve on all fronts in recent days. Fox has launched a diplomatic initiative to build a new partnership with the United States, to assist in Colombia's peace negotiations with the guerrillas, to smooth Colombia's relationship with Venezuela and to persuade Chavez to tone down his rhetoric, if not his ideas.
In conversations with Chavez, the Mexicans reminded him that the United States is the largest purchaser of Venezuelan oil, and that the two countries have a long history of close and cordial relations.
George Bush will meet with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez