State Exonerates Chavez
By Scott Sullivan
05.08.05 | The Miami Herald carries an AP story by George Gedda that Nicholas Burns (number three at State) exonerates Hugo Chavez and his government from assisting the FARC in Colombia, saying it is being done by "individuals not connected with the government." He also says the US is not "losing any sleep" over Venezuela. Further, the US is not speaking against religious and political repression in Venezuela. Nicholas Burns is right about not losing sleep, and that is the problem. What State needs is to be worried and to develop a Chavez containment policy, beginning in Bolivia. Public affairs allegations of this type will not deter Chavez, especially when State exonerates him and fails to defend Sumate and the Catholic Church. Chavez must be amused, and pleased.
QUOTE
During a question-and-answer session after his speech, Burns suggested that Venezuela's leftist government does not pose a major problem for the United States.
''We don't lose any sleep over Venezuela,'' he said. ``Our challenge is not to react to everything that Mr. Chávez says and does. And he says and does a lot of things every day. We're not inclined to be provoked.''
Source: Miami Herald.com, 4 August 05
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