Venezuela repeats: Please butt out

Venezuela's Attorney General Isaias Rodriguez says that the Summit of the Americas speech by US President George W. Bush has effectively put the lid on recent uninformed declarations by his National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice in as much as the current White House resident has admitted that any question of a revocatory referendum against President Hugo Chavez Frias will be precisely in accordance with the 1999 Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Rodriguez Gonzalez, who has previously served as Executive Vice President, says due process is already outlined in Article 274 of the Constitution and orders that the distinctly different types of referenda in Venezuelan legal process are determined expressly by that Constitution and not ...as had been suggested by Rice ... depending on the consent or will of any individual in Venezuela, regardless of their influence or stature.

....Referenda processes are acts which involve the dignity and liberty of the Venezuelan people and shall not be a pretext for foreign governments to meddle in decisions which are the absolute and exclusive concern of Venezuelans ... in this respect, we call on spokespersons for foreign countries to avoid issuing statements ... no matter how innocent they believe them to be ... on our internal affairs, electoral or otherwise, since instead of helping the proper development thereof, they can generate diatribes and complicate internal debate as well as increasing tension in the country. In consequence, we ask that they do not interfere in the proper functioning of the CNE which is the supreme electoral authority in Venezuela, and that due respect should be given to its role as arbiter."  article

Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez knows the score. He understands full well that Washington is going to come at him from every angle.

And all the while, Bush is flaming Cuba for interfering in South American politics.

I wonder what people see when they look in the mirror.

In the meantime, at the Summit, Chavez is successfully blocking Bully Bush's policy of "restructuring" the economies of Latin American countries, while ignoring their developmental and social concerns. Bush's new buddy appears to be Mexico's Fox, who got an invitation to Crawford and some controversial agreements on immigrants.

Heads of State from 34 countries attending the Monterrey (Mexico) Summit of the Americas have conceded to Venezuela and Brazil agreeing NOT to set a final completion date for the USA-promoted Free Trade of the Americas (FTAA) agreement ... Washington D.C. has been stomping on the sidelines wanting to unilaterally impose a 2005 deadline ... the meeting's final declaration, however, was carefully worded to avoid a a specific 'drop dead' date.

...Chavez Frias had suggested that a percentage of developing countries' foreign debt be dedicated to social causes such as health, education and poverty reduction ... "we have to change the model, the United States free trade focus on economic development ... let's recognize that we are on a very bad path."

...Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was not so easily enticed by White House overtures ... he said "it's time to act once and for all in the collective and primary interests of ALL of the Americas." It was clear that his emphasis was on the southern half of the continent where free trade talks have stranded on contentious US agricultural subsidies and US intellectual property rights. The US has agreed to limited Latin American demands, although the partial retrenchment is seen more at damage control resulting from regional malaise against unilateral US policies.

Brazil is protesting 'xenophobic and discriminatory' US security measures that require the fingerprinting and photographing of foreigners arriving in the United States -- Brazil now requires reciprocal time-consuming measures against American citizens traveling to Brazil.

...Argentina has also tackled US government officials who've gone into red-neck paranoid mode over Argentina's trade and diplomatic links with communist Cuba, and Venezuela's Chavez Frias has told Washington to stop sticking its nose into his country's domestic political affairs ... he had refused to attend the summit's official dinner, Monday night, and effectively called the partying a waste of time.

Hugo!

I haven't been keeping you up on the immigration "plan". You know, of course, that it is essentially a campaign plan. In a speech to plug it, the Bald-faced Liar stated:

"By tradition and conviction, our country is a welcoming society."
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Yes, we've noticed that lately, haven't we, Brazil?