Rice bashes Venezuelan leader, politics

Posted on Fri, Feb. 17, 2006

VENEZUELA
Rice bashes Venezuelan leader, politics
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice denounced Hugo Chávez's support of
Iran and said he was a threat to other Latin American countries.
BY PABLO BACHELET
pbachelet@MiamiHerald.com

WASHINGTON - Using her harshest language yet on Venezuelan President
Hugo Chávez, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Thursday called
Venezuela and Cuba ''sidekicks'' of Iran and dangers to Latin American
democracies, and gave new details of a U.S. diplomatic campaign to
contain Chávez.

Rice said there was a need to present ''a united front against some of
the things that Venezuela gets involved in,'' and hinted that Venezuela
was linked to a recent political crisis in Nicaragua.

''Frankly, one of the problems that we face is that you have a bit of a
relationship, or quite a relationship, between Cuba and Venezuela . . .
which I think is a particular danger to the region,'' Rice told the
House International Relations Committee, where she testified on the
State Department's 2007 fiscal budget.

Venezuela, Cuba and Syria were the only countries that voted against
reporting Iran to the U.N. Security Council over its uranium enrichment
program, she noted.

Rice said the United States succeeded in bringing together a broad
coalition on the nuclear issue, ``with the exception of Iran's sidekicks
Syria, Venezuela . . . and Cuba.''

Her statements were the latest sign of the plummeting relations between
Washington and Caracas. Chávez, who says he is heading a 21st century
socialist revolution, has repeatedly alleged that President Bush
supported a failed 2002 coup against him and is trying to overthrow or
kill him. The State Department denies this accusation.

Early in her tenure, Rice described Venezuela as a ''negative force'' in
the region, but later toned down her attacks on Chávez, saying the
administration preferred to highlight its ''positive agenda'' with Latin
America.

But now the administration appears to have gone in a full-scale
offensive again. Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
equated Chávez's rise to power through democratic means with Hitler, and
the Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte described
Venezuela's ties with Iran and North Korea as a threat to U.S. interests.

Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., asked about Chávez at Thursday's hearing,
saying Chávez allegedly planned to give $50 million to the Palestinian
organization Hamas. ``It's a known terrorist organization, and I'd just
like to know what the administration is going to do, and is doing, to
deal with President Chávez.''

Rice responded by saying that ''I think it's fair to say that one of the
biggest problems we face in that regard are the policies of Venezuela,
which, as you rightly say, are attempting to influence neighbors away
from democratic processes.'' As an example, she cited recent political
upheavals in Nicaragua, where the pro-U.S. President Enrique Bolaños
barely survived a possible impeachment.

Rice also expressed her concerns for the leaders of Súmate, an electoral
grassroots group that helped organize a recall referendum on Chávez, who
are facing conspiracy charges of receiving American financing and are
due to go on trial soon.

''This kangaroo trial of Súmate is a disgrace,'' she said.

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