He was speaking with reporters during a news conference at the Hilton Trinidad, prior to his departure for Caracas following an overnight visit in Port of Spain. Quoting the celebrated Cuban poet Jose Marti, Chavez said: "We will repay love with love." Saying that the protests which have forced his Government onto the defensive for more than a year now had been the work of terrorists, he said those actions almost strangled the country's economy. And the oil facility made available by Trinidad and Tobago enabled the Venezuelan economy to breathe again, he said.
……….The talks with Manning also focused on an idea from Chavez to construct a gas pipeline from Venezuela, through the Caribbean to Cuba and countries in Central America. "And who knows; it could go all the way to North America," he said.
He said also that Venezuela was indeed interested in an arrangement by which gas from reserves in his country could be processed in Trinidad for shipment and distribution in North America. And, he said, he was renewing discussions on a grand idea of forming one giant entity out of all the State-owned energy companies in Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil and Peru. He said Venezuela and Ecuador had already established a task force to explore this idea in some detail.
"This is not a far-fetched idea at all," he said."It is entirely feasible and it can be done but it is an idea that disturbs some people. "Ay-ay-ay!" he said, remarking on the possibilities for economic integration thrown up by this idea, adding that "it is time for us to return to the Bolivarian vision" for unity among Latin American and Caribbean countries. He said follow-up discussions on some of these matters were expected to take place sometime in October, in Caracas.***
Elsewhere, about 1,000 miners were marching toward La Paz to join demonstrations by thousands of poor Indians, union workers, and street vendors. Reports by independent Radio Erbol and private broadcaster TV 21 said the miners clashed with government troops in the city of Patacamaya, about 60 miles west of La Paz. Those reports indicated troops fired tear gas and miners responded by hurling dynamite.
Human rights groups and local media have reported up to 65 deaths in three weeks of street clashes between mostly Indian demonstrators and troops. The authorities have reported at least 16 deaths, but have not confirmed the higher figure.***