When I asked Bielsa these questions, he replied that the ABC interview had taken place more than a week ago.''I was not foreign minister last week,'' Bielsa told me. ``The [ABC] question specifically referred to the executions, and I felt I had neither the position nor the moral authority to make a judgment.''
And what would you say if I asked you in a broader sense whether Cuba respects human rights?
The foreign minister responded that he will make a judgment on that once he examines the previous government's reasons for changing Argentina's vote at the United Nations from a condemnation of Cuba's human rights abuses to an abstention.''I consider the United States to be a friendly country,'' Bielsa added. ``Argentina has not decided to have an automatic alignment with Cuba and Venezuela to systematically confront the United States in international organizations.''***
Since the arrival of Chavez, Venezuela has signed dozens of cooperation agreements with Cuba, increased cultural exchange and provided subsidized petroleum to the Caribbean nation, much to the chagrin of Venezuelans already unnerved by what they see as Chavez's leftist agenda. Government leaders defend the new cooperation with Cuba as a way of consolidating Venezuela's social changes. But with Cuba once again in the eye of the world, the relationship may prove costly for Chavez.***