James Morrison. The
Washington Times. January 11, 2001
Venezuelan Ambassador Alfredo Toro Hardy is tired of political analysts and
journalists portraying his president as a renegade statesman who embraces
communists and dictators.
President Hugo Chavez drew negative publicity with a visit to Iraq last year
and one to Cuba in 1999, but the ambassador says those reports were unbalanced.
"Particular actions and words of President Chavez have been
highlighted in ways that ignore the context in which they were taken or spoken,"
he said in a letter reviewing the events of the past year.
Mr. Toro Hardy, who is due to be reassigned as ambassador to Britain,
said the visit to Iraq was only one stop on a trip to members of the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in preparation for an OPEC
summit in Caracas, Venezuela.
Mr. Chavez was the first head of state to visit Iraq since the 1991
Gulf War.
"Everyone hears about the visit of the Cuban president to Caracas,
ignoring the fact that days before, President Chavez had been host to 15 Central
American and Caribbean presidents and prime ministers with whom he signed energy
supply agreements which were the same as the one signed with Cuba," the
ambassador said.
"President Chavez's visit to Cuba was extensively covered by the
media, but very little has been said about his five trips to the United States,
his three trips to Europe or his six trips to Brazil.
Mr. Chavez, who attempted to mount a military coup in 1992, visited
Cuban leader Fidel Castro in 1999, and Mr. Castro paid a visit to Venezuela last
year.
"Many prefer to see our reality in black and white and avoid the
effort required to understand the complexities of the process taking place in
Venezuela.
"We are, however, secure in the knowledge that, sooner or later,
the deeply democratic nature of the Venezuelan transformation process, its
market-oriented laws and its contribution to energy price stability shall become
clearly evident to all." | 