Relationship with the United States

After a successful response to the brief conversation between President Chavez and the United States’ secretary of state, that nation returned to its traditionally arrogant position of arbitrary power. Many readings can be made of the change of position, over a matter of hours, by the Department of State. Many assumptions can be made, associated with the reasons leading the Obama government to insist, rather than other possibilities, on the appointment of Larry Palmer as ambassador to Caracas.

Palmer’s statements to the U.S. Congress represent a value judgment of our country that, from a representative of a nation like the U.S., is consistent with the behavior of an envoy to hostile territory. They are, moreover, allegations without substance that represent an affront to our country, for which we have the right and duty to complain. The best way to accomplish that is to reject the representative who intends to come up with criteria that seek to justify behavior unacceptable to a sovereign country.

The underlying theme is that powerful sectors of the U.S. fear the path of integration and Latin American and Caribbean unity that are being achieved through the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) and Petrocaribe, with the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the Community of Latin America and Caribbean States. Reference was made to our Bolivarian pathway to freedom and independence for many countries of our continent and elsewhere.

Relationships characterized by respect and equality were taught by the father of our nation, Bolivar, and such is the position of the Venezuelan government, which we should support with dignity and national pride, in our relationship with the U.S. or any other country.