Embassy Row

Venezuela complains

Venezuela this week escalated its criticism of the United States by denouncing statements of a top American diplomat who accused President Hugo Chavez of leading an “antidemocratic” regime.

Bernardo Alvarez, Venezuela’s ambassador to the United States, said his government wrote the Bush administration to complain about Roger Noriega, the assistant secretary of state for Latin America.

Mr. Noriega, in recent testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Venezuela’s political conflict is a direct result of “Chavez’s increasingly antidemocratic rule.”

The leftist president, who has aligned himself with Cuban leader Fidel Castro, is facing tough political opposition from millions of voters who want him removed from office. Mr. Chavez’s government has challenged the recall petitions in the country’s top courts.

“Our criticism is that the political process [in Venezuela] was labeled as nondemocratic,” Mr. Alvarez told Venezuela’s state-run news agency Tuesday.

The letter from the Venezuelan government is the latest in a bitter exchange between the Bush administration and the Caracas government, which has accused the United States of supporting any effort to oust Mr. Chavez, including an attempted coup two years ago.

U.S. and Venezuelan diplomats clashed last week at the Organization of American States in Washington, trading blunt charges and countercharges.

Jorge Valero, Venezuela’s OAS ambassador, said his government has “abundant” proof of U.S. support for the coup, which lasted about 24 hours before Mr. Chavez was returned to office. The United States has denied repeatedly any involvement in the coup.

“The final goal of these actions is the overthrow of the constitutional president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez,” the ambassador said. “We demand that this foreign intervention cease.”

John F. Maisto, the U.S. ambassador to the OAS, called Mr. Valero’s statements “absurdities.”

“This is not the first time we have heard irresponsible and untrue allegations … from the government of Venezuela,” Mr. Maisto said. “They have come in a variety of forms, including personal insults against [President Bush].”

Mr. Maisto said Venezuela was engaging in a “crude attempt” to distract the OAS from monitoring the recall efforts.

“We all know what is at stake in Venezuela — the need to resolve the political impasse in a manner that is constitutional, democratic, peaceful and electoral,” he said.

Summit hopes

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who meets with President Bush next week, is eager to resolve the stalemate among Arab leaders that led to the cancellation of a summit meeting last month, the Egyptian government spokesman said.

Taha Abdel Aleem told editors and reporters over lunch at The Washington Times yesterday that Mr. Mubarak is more concerned about the “integrity” of the Arab League than any particular issue that caused the last-minute postponement of the summit in Tunisia.

Mr. Aleem said the summit probably will be rescheduled for May and that Mr. Mubarak was prepared to play host. News reports from the Middle East say the meeting is likely to be held as planned in Tunisia, which said it canceled the summit last month when Arab delegates disagreed over issues such as the promotion of democracy and a new peace effort with Israel.

Mr. Mubarak meets with Mr. Bush in Crawford, Texas, on Monday.

The summit also was discussed in Lebanon yesterday when U.S. Ambassador Vincent Battle met with President Rafik Hariri.

“I think everyone understands the value of the ability at this time for Arab leaders to meet,” Mr. Battle told reporters in Beirut.

• Call Embassy Row at 202/636-3297, fax 202/832-7278 or e-mail jmorrison@washingtontimes.com.