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Dont miss this pargraph.....Meanwhile, Cuban President Fidel Castro left Venezuela after the end of an oil summit with Caribbean leaders on Wednesday, Venezuelan officials said. They would not say when Castro left.

Posted on Fri, Jul. 01, 2005
Chavez wants to boost Venezuela-U.S. ties

CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER

Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Friday that his government maintained good relations with former President Clinton and told U.S. business leaders that he would do his best to improve ties with the Bush administration.

Speaking to business representatives from the United States at a trade meeting in Caracas, Chavez said relations with Washington have been tense since Clinton left office more than four years ago.

With the current administration, there hasn't "been the smallest possibility of dialogue," said Chavez, one of Latin America's most outspoken critics of U.S. foreign policy in the region. Chavez said he nonetheless wanted to forge stronger ties between the countries.

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"You should know my dear North American friends, U.S. businessmen, and I say it with all the sincerity that can come from my soul, that we want to do everything possible to improve commercial, economic and political relations," said Chavez. "We are going to work so good times come."

Despite diplomatic differences, Chavez emphasized, the United States remains Venezuela's main oil buyer and top trade partner.

Venezuela ships nearly 1.2 million barrels of crude to U.S. ports daily while many businesses in this South American nation import products made in the United States, including medicines, food and machinery.

Chavez has accused the Bush administration of trying to topple his government and criticized the U.S.-backed Free Trade Area of the Americas, or FTAA.

Chavez has threatened to end oil shipments to the United States if the Bush administration attempts to invade his country, but he says too that Venezuela will remain a steady supplier of oil as long as there are no U.S. "aggressions" by Washington against his government.

During a visit to Brazil last week, Clinton said the failure to create a hemisphere-wide free trade bloc had strengthened populists like Chavez.

"Now that oil is at $60 a barrel, Mr. Chavez can afford to be an oil nationalist," Clinton said. "His voice has resonance among poor people across the continent who feel they are falling behind and not gaining ground in this economy."

Meanwhile, Cuban President Fidel Castro left Venezuela after the end of an oil summit with Caribbean leaders on Wednesday, Venezuelan officials said. They would not say when Castro left.

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