New nominee for U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela barred from that country after musing about coups

[Ken Burch]

And promising to fight for the American rich against the Venezuelan people.

____________________________

http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/5886

Guanare, December 22nd, 2010 (Venezuelanalysis.com) – Yesterday Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Nicolás Maduro reiterated his country´s rejection of proposed U.S. ambassador Larry Palmer in an ongoing diplomatic dispute between the two countries that began earlier this year. On Monday, Venezuelan authorities presented the U.S. Embassy in Caracas with a formal note of protest regarding Palmer´s candidacy and officially withdrew a diplomatic agrément required for U.S. diplomats to serve in Venezuela. In response, U.S. State Department spokesperson David Crowley warned of “consequences” for bi-lateral relations if Venezuela insists on refusing Palmer´s designation.

"It's well known how Palmer broke the basic rules of respect for the country that was going to receive him, crudely insulting Venezuela´s institutions,” said Maduro in reference to written and public statements made by Larry Palmer before and after his June nomination to the ambassadorship by the Obama Administration.

In a written letter to the U.S. Senate – later made public – Palmer first suggested that the Venezuelan Armed Forces had “morale and equipment problems”, saying the U.S. government could take advantage of such difficulties, and accused officials within the Chavez administration of having “clear” links to Colombian insurgent groups deemed “terrorists” by the U.S. State Department. Palmer also committed himself to “safeguard American economic interests and investments,” if chosen to be ambassador.

____________________________


Sorry, but "CHANGE" was NOT supposed to mean dropping hints that we'll overthrow more elected democratic governments. And Democratic presidents aren't supposed to have their diplomats put the interests of U.S. corporations AHEAD of the right of people in all countries to control their own destiny and exercise the right to self-determination-a right that INCLUDES economic self-determination.

[Dennis Donovan]

1. Recommended for your postscript

[Electric Monk]

3. plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

the more things change, the more they stay the same

;(

[HelenWheels]

2. I don't think so

Palmer doesn't sound like a good choice for ambassador. Sounds more like a trouble maker.

[EFerrari]

8. Our policy seems to be to bait Venezuela so it's hard to tell.

I'm disappointed that this administration is going down this road.

[pleah]

4. Good! n/t

[DCKit]

5. I knew there was a real story behind the poutrage.

And here was I, thinking he was simply another CIA stooge.

[Monk06]

6. Palmer sounds a lot like that prick Paul Cellucci that Bush foisted on us. The US

has a long history of using it's Embassies as bases to
interfere in the national sovereignty of it's host nations.

Paul Cellucci should have had his credentials pulled and sent
back to Washington for interfering in Canadian foreign policy
regarding Iraq and the Missile Defense Shield. Which is designed
solely for the purpose of putting American patriot missile batteries
and their crews on foreign soil thereby entangling other countries
in their strategic web of intrigue. Witness the Czech Republic and
Poland. That missile defense plan was aimed at nullifying Russian
nuclear weapons and had nothing to do with a threat from Iran as
stated. Bush wanted Canadian support for the so called missile
shield and he sent that prick Cellucci to Ottawa to get it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Cellucci

Regarding Palmer, he was the US Ambassador to Honduras appointed
by Colin Powell who made his bones during the illegal invasion of
Panama. Kinda smells like Palmer is a CIA station chief pretending
to be a diplomat.

[malaise]

7. What I find amazing is the lacck of pretense about

diplomacy. You would think that will all the WikiLeaks mean would lie low and pretend to be diplomats - BUT NO.

[Monk06]

9. The only reason the US has foreign embassies is to give CIA personnell diplomatic immunity.

Just like the Russian did during the Soviet era when
every employee of a Russian embassy was a KGB Colonel

That's how Putin started out.

[Billy Burnett]

10. And what is the CIA doing?

They are simply an arm of American (now foreign owned) corporate hegemony.

Time to ask again ... just what are these so called "American interests" that America spends billions "defending" worldwide?

[Monk06]

13. Well they don't call the CIA "the Company" for nothing. A term first popularized by James Grady's

Six Days of the Condor. The CIA is a private corporation,
funded by the US govt that works under contract for major
US corporations to further their interests. As a govt entity
it is their job to infiltrate and subvert US govt departments
and institutions and convert them to the uses of their corporate
clients.

Examples include US AID, and back in the day UNESCO, UNICEF and the
Peace Corps. US AID is particularly important since they were heavily
involved in the attempted coup of Venezuelan govt in 2002.

It can be safely assumed that anything involving US AID is a CIA COOP

[wial]

11. yeah but

as The Who put it so long ago now: we won't get fooled again.

sigh.

[Ken Burch]

12. Didn't that song also have a line that started with the words

"Meet the New Boss...."?

[lunasun]

14. some in the US are drooling over that Venezuelan oil!

[Violet_Crumble]

15. It's the new 'diplomacy', same as the old 'diplomacy'

The amount of CHANGE is pretty damn stupendous!

:hi:

[ProgressiveProfessor]

16. Not sure this really matters at this point

They refused our bubba, so we booted theirs. Both sides get to pick new ones and the dance goes on.

[Ken Burch]

17. The Venezuelan ambassador wasn't talking about trying to overthow OUR government, though

It doesn't bother you that a U.S. diplomat would sound like this, when speaking about a Latin American country, in THIS day and age, having been appointed by what is supposed to be a progressive U.S. administration?

It's like the guy is channeling John Foster Dulles or something.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

18. It seems like someone at State did not do their homework

Also its also normal to run the name past the other country before things for public. There are a number of oddities with this appointment, some of which may be in Valenzuela's court.

[Ken Burch]

19. "In Valenzuela's court"?

What does a 1980's National League pitching great have to do with this?



(sorry...it was too good to pass up).

[ProgressiveProfessor]

22. Its late and I trusted the spell checker....

[Ken Burch]

23. No offence intended.

I love moments like that.

[Violet_Crumble]

20. That doesn't explain the appalling behaviour of the US later, though...

If it was merely some bubba at State not doing their homework, then the US had plenty of opportunity to try to repair the damage done. They didn't, and instead insisted on Palmer being accepted by Venezuela. The US appears to have massive problems comprehending what the word 'diplomacy' means...

[Ken Burch]

21. Indeed, Violet, our leaders don't ever seem to have grasped the concept

of "diplomacy" OR of negotiations.

To the American foreign policy establishment, BOTH of the above seem to main pretty much saying to the rest of the world "OK, here's your choice: you can surrender to our will without a shot being fired, or we can send in the Marines and crush you.

I had THOUGHT that mindset had lost in the last election. Apparently, I was wrong.

[EFerrari]

24. The Venezuelan ambassador will not be replaced.

He's had no part in this.

[robinlynne]

25. disgusting.