Posted on 11/30/2005 7:58:12 AM PST by FerdieMurphy
Venezuela snubbed a visiting congressional delegation at the Caracas airport. Just what transpired at the airport -- and why -- remains unclear.
WASHINGTON -Venezuela snubbed a visiting congressional delegation at the Caracas airport. Just what transpired at the airport -- and why -- remains unclear.
President Hugo Chávez's campaign to woo members of the U.S. Congress suffered a major setback this week as Venezuelan authorities, amid contradictory reports, snubbed members of a senior delegation of U.S. lawmakers by not letting them disembark from their aircraft for several hours.
The lawmakers eventually left without ever getting off the plane.
Chávez and his top government officials had been meeting with members of Congress on a regular basis. Some were advocating more dialogue between the two nations, which often lob bitter accusations against each other.
But after the Caracas airport incident, members who advocate closer ties are going to be ''in the margins,'' said Michael Shifter, with the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington think-tank. ``The vast majority of members of Congress are going to take this as a slap in the face.''
The delegation, led by Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., the powerful chairman of the House International Relations Committee, arrived in Caracas on Monday afternoon, hoping to find ways to ease rising tensions between Venezuela and the United States.
Instead, the bipartisan delegation of six members of Congress and 22 staffers departed two hours later in frustration after airport authorities refused to allow the aircraft to park near the official VIP terminal and then didn't allow vehicles to approach the plane to pick up the passengers, according to U.S. officials.
DISAPPOINTED
Hyde's office said in a statement that delegation members were disappointed with the Venezuelan government's ``capricious and unexplained decision.''
The Venezuelan foreign ministry said in a statement that the arrival was ''delayed a few more minutes'' because the airport's VIP terminal was reserved for the Spanish defense minister, who was in Caracas to sign a weapons deal that the U.S. opposes.
The statement said the office of Vice President José Vicente Rangel was quickly negotiating a solution to the ''inconveniences,'' but that the delegation had already decided to leave.
This was the first time a congressional delegation had become embroiled in the war of words between the Bush administration and the Venezuelan government.
Chávez has accused the United States of planning to invade his country and unseat his leftist government, while the U.S. government says Chávez is governing in an increasingly authoritarian fashion.
Still, a steady stream of lawmakers has traveled to Venezuela to meet with senior officials, including Chávez.
In recent weeks, the Venezuelan government negotiated the distribution of cheap heating oil to low-income U.S. residents through the offices of Reps. Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., and William Delahunt, D-Mass.
The Hyde delegation's visit came just days before a legislative election in Venezuela.
The two sides, according to U.S. officials, started bickering over the group's agenda, which included a meeting with opposition leaders and the Súmate nongovernmental group. Venezuelan officials accuse Súmate of seeking to topple the government.
MEETING TIME
The Venezuelans wanted to know when the Súmate meeting was to take place, something the U.S. refused to divulge, fearing the Venezuelan government might ''sandbag'' the agenda, said a senior U.S. Embassy official, who agreed to be interviewed only if his name was not revealed because of the delicate nature of bilateral relations.
Trouble began at Maiquetía International Airport well before the plane was scheduled to land, the embassy official said.
When embassy officials asked whether it would be allowed to land near the VIP terminal, the airport authority gave contradictory responses.
The plane eventually parked far away and airport security refused to let an embassy bus drive up to collect the delegation.
Eventually, the Venezuelans dispatched an official airport bus to pick up the passengers. The vehicle approached but then turned around and drove off.
PROMISES
With the acting ambassador out of the country, the embassy's No. 2 official, Kevin Whitaker, called the vice president's office and was promised that the issue would be resolved quickly.
But about half an hour later, the members of Congress huddled and decided it was time to leave.
''After waiting for two hours, it was clear that they did not want us there,'' Luis Fortuño, Puerto Rico's congressional delegate, said in phone interview from Brazil, where the delegation was Tuesday.
We can only hope.
Meanwhile, stay out of Venezuela owned Citgo stations. Don't even buy a gumdrop there!
100 years ago, the US Navy probably would have sunk the tanker on its own initiative.
I miss the Old School.
He's a SOB, and he's not our SOB!!!
I am currently boycotting Citgo... I never liked them anyway.
Translation: Insult to and upon initial snub...
"not letting them disembark from their aircraft for several hours."
Chavez was probably still recovering from a night of shorting coke, and did not want to be seen in an intoxicated condition.
Most of your gas is coming from VZ anyway. :-0
The VZ blogs are all ecstatic about boycotting the election next Sunday, but they are not proposing a plan of what to do next. If you boycott, then a coup is your only ensuing option. There is no other option. But the blogs won't talk about that for obvious reasons.
So I am left wondering: does the opposition have the power to remove Chavez this time? Where are the loyalties of the military? The police?
The Caracas police are right wing, no?
Unfortunately our state department is laced with left-wing pinkos who see Chavez as a communist Simon Bolivar.
-`The vast majority of members of Congress are going to take this as a slap in the face.''-
This will give our misrepresentatives a fine opportunity to perfect their puckering up abilities. I'm sure a little slap won't affect their decision to mingle with American enemies.
Gunboat diplomacy worked pretty well for us. Our Latin American relationships were better then than now. Plus we got a great canal out of it and pro-US governments courtesy of United Fruit. Not to mention wonderful floor shows in Havana nightclubs. Sure, the leftists hated it, but they hate us anyway.
This is how I see it as well. Its a circular problem. Chavez controls the election machinery, and is willing to make the results come out the way he wants them. He is willing to file charges against his opponents, to force them into exile. He is willing to send his goon-squads out to beat up and even open fire on the opposition. Some people have been murdered. And, in any case, his constitution allows him to rule by decree, over the heads of his Congress and his Supreme Court, which is packed with his people. So there is little point in elections.
On the other hand, he has gone a long way toward making himself coup-proof. Officers who favor him have been advanced in rank, those that oppose him have been forced out, generals who oppose him have been forced into exile in some cases.
He has cut off contacts between his military and ours, to make it more difficult for outsiders to get access to his officers.
He has established parallel forces which are outside normal government control. For example, his new Army Reserve answers not to the Army, but to someone in Chavez' inner circle. The Bolivarians are a civilian goon squad that he has armed and are used for violent action that the army would refuse to do.
The Caracas police force was under the control of an opponent to Chavez, and for a time they were disarmed.
He has established a civilian guerrilla group out in the countryside, near the Colombian border. They have been seizing control of small towns in the area away from the elected mayors. They are occasionally bussed into Caracas when he needs extra people for a demonstration.
He has Cuban officers assigned as observers at every military post, and he has other Cubans in Venezuelan uniforms who can be used to do what Venezuelan soldiers won't do.
It might be possible to organize a coup within one or another military organization, or police force, but with so many parallel forces, most of them outside the normal military chain of command, it will be difficult. Who ever does it will have a fight on his hands. It won't be enough to take down Chavez, you would have to take them all down and quickly. This is not a job for the timid.
Excellent post!
Do you have friends or relatives in Venezuela?
Good question.
My personal claim to fame is just that I was there during Chavez' 1992 coup attempt, and as a result I have followed his career with morbid interest ever since.
I was working there at the time, and the morning of the coup, I woke up to machine gun fire coming from not that far away. As the day wore on, and I really needed a cup of coffee, and I realized that Venezuelans were out and around as if nothing were happening, I eventually ventured out into the streets (found my coffee) and observed some of the goings on.
I have followed Venezuelan news pretty closely ever since, especially anything to do with Chavez. There are others here at FR who are similarly interested in Chavez, who periodically post articles about him, and also thanks to the miracle of Internet its easy enough to scan the headlines in El Universal with my morning coffee.
Somewhat coincidentally, I'm working with a number of Venezuelan emigre's, who were forced out and now reside in the states. They all have a story to tell. They are good people, very decent, and technically very good.
"Why are members of Congress conducting American foreign policy?"
Better them than Jesse Jackson, who's never been elected to anything.
Yes, yes... More "dialogue" with communists is clearly the answer. After all, it has always worked so well in the past. ;-)
I have lived in Venezuela also. I have friends and relatives in Venezuela.
I have read your posts for quite sometime, and all your posts have insightful info. Specially when you talk about Venezuelans being socialist even before Chavez.
So, if my map is right, you were living near Miraflores presidential palace around La Carlota Air base during Chavez' 92 coup?
Do you currently live in Florida or Texas? Because where I live (Houston) there are a lot of chavista Citgo ex-pats (It has worsened since Citgo moved its headquartes here from Tulsa). If you happen to be near the famous Galleria Mall at Westheimer ave. in Houston you'll see a large proportion of pro-chavez Venezuelans shopping stuff. Quite a contrast with several South and Central Florida cities (especially Miami, Orlando, Weston, Boca Raton, Kendall among others)
Thanks for posting and keep up the great work!
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