Tensions between the US and Venezuela flared over Washington’s nominee for ambassador on Saturday as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez warned that the diplomat would be detained and put on the next flight home if he tries to set foot in the country.
Chavez has been warning for months that US President Barack Obama’s nominee, Larry Palmer, would not be welcome under any circumstances because of critical remarks he made about the Venezuelan government.
During his Senate confirmation process, Palmer suggested that morale is low in Venezuela’s military and also expressed concern about Colombian rebels finding refuge in Venezuela.
“He went ahead and said whatever he felt like saying, disrespecting Venezuela, a group of honorable generals ... the government, the Venezuelan Constitution,” Chavez said in a televised speech. “How is he going to be ambassador? He disqualified himself.”
Chavez chuckled as he addressed Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro, saying Palmer must be stopped if he attempts to fly into Caracas’ international airport in Maiquetia.
“If he arrives at Maiquetia, grab him, Nicolas, grab him,” Chavez said. “Give Mr Palmer a coffee from me, and then ‘bye-bye.’ He cannot, he cannot enter this country.”
The US State Department has insisted it stands behind Palmer as the best candidate for the job. Assistant Secretary of State Arturo Valenzuela said on Thursday that if the Senate confirms Palmer as ambassador, he would soon be sent to Caracas.
“With Palmer’s arrival to Venezuela, we see an effort of both countries to try to establish a more fluid dialogue,” Valenzuela told reporters in a conference call. “It has to be frank, because we won’t be in agreement on some things.”
Chavez has previously warned that Palmer wouldn’t be allowed to come to Venezuela, though not in such strong nor specific terms. There was no immediate reaction from the US embassy, which has been without an ambassador since Patrick Duddy finished his assignment and left in July.
Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry called the US government’s insistence on appointing Palmer a “new provocation” in a statement on Saturday, condemning what it called his “unacceptable conduct.”
Palmer, a former ambassador to Honduras, raised some particularly sensitive issues in his written response to questions from Republican Senator Richard Lugar earlier this year, expressing concerns about Cuba’s influence within Chavez’s military and renewing 2008 accusations by the US Treasury Department that three members of Chavez’s inner circle helped Colombian rebels by supplying arms and aiding drug-trafficking operations.
The US government has also been critical of decree powers granted to Chavez on Friday by his congressional allies.
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