Venezuela's Chavez threatens to expel US diplomat

[struggle4progress]

CARACAS, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened on Saturday to expel a U.S. diplomat he said may have advised opposition leaders on how win a vote on whether the leftist can run for re-election.

Chavez, who last year expelled Venezuela's U.S. ambassador, said the unidentified official would be thrown out if evidence showed he had taken part in a meeting he said was held in Puerto Rico.

"If this is proven, I will throw him out of the country for interfering in Venezuela's internal affairs," Chavez said during a television broadcast ...

The president said he possessed reports that showed U.S. advisers had met with opposition politicians to discuss how to defeat the referendum proposal. He said he was investigating reports an official from the U.S. Embassy in Caracas attended the meeting ...

http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKN1033211020090110

[struggle4progress]

1. Chavez Threatens to Expel U.S. Embassy Personnel in Caracas

... Chavez said he knows a group of opposition leaders recently flew to Puerto Rico to meet with “U.S. advisers” to discuss strategies to defeat the president’s proposal to eliminate his term limits in a referendum this year. Chavez said U.S. Embassy representatives may have been present.

“If I can confirm this, I’ll throw them out of the country,” Chavez said at ceremony in Caracas commemorating the launch of Venezuela’s first satellite ...

Jennifer Rahimi, the deputy press secretary at the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, said the accusations that U.S. diplomats met with opposition leaders are “completely false.”

The U.S. and Venezuela maintain diplomatic ties despite U.S. Ambassador Patrick Duddy’s expulsion, and the U.S. Embassy in Caracas remains open.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aTz9EuUBrCms&refer=latin_america

[Judi Lynn]

2. The ambassadors Bush has planted there have ALL been assholes.

The bastard who rushed forward to throw both his spindley arms around Pedro Carmona, the coup President was Charles Shapiro, who also entertained a host of anti-Chavistas at a dinner he gave featuring a Venezuelan comedian working with a ventroliquist's dummy made up to look like Hugo Chavez, using the entire set to ridicule and revile him. What a filthy piece of ####.

He was completely supportive of the coup. He was replaced by William Brownfield who wore out his welcome amazingly quickly. At one point he decided to show up at a Little League baseball game for Venezuelan children and start handing out baseballs, gloves, etc. to the children as if he were Santa Claus.

The adults in the stands ran to yell for him to get the hell out of there, then as he edged his way to his limousine, they hopped on motorcycles, bringing with them fruits, nice vegetables, and eggs they had acquired at a convenient grocery place nearby, and chased his ass accross Caracas, pitching their food at his car windows until he gained the safety of his embasssy.

That clown is currently right next door in Colombia, happy as a clam with Uribe, with whom he watched live video from the Colombian military's trick in pretending to be Red Cross people, with Venezuelan journalists going to pick up the FARC hostages.

http://www.adelaideinstitute.org.nyud.net:8090/images/photos/Shapiro_Charles_01.jpg http://portland.indymedia.org.nyud.net:8090/icon/2003/05/264865.jpg

Charles Shapiro, his entertainer dressed
as anti-Chavez journalist Marta Colomina
with Chavez puppet.

http://cache.daylife.com.nyud.net:8090/imageserve/0adeeoTfX35vb/340x.jpg http://msnbcmedia.msn.com.nyud.net:8090/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/060407/060407_brownfield_hmed_6p.hmedium.jpg

William Brownfield, and photo taken from his limo showing patrons of the Little League game chasing
him all the way back to his well-appointed embassy. A guy just can't have any fun any more, eh?

http://doc.noticias24.com.nyud.net:8090/0710/duddy06.jpg http://www.venezuelanalysis.com.nyud.net:8090/files/images/people/duddy.jpg

Patrick Duddy