Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Thursday that his government is free to sell its oil to any country it wishes, although he did not directly answer a question about whether he is shipping fuel to Syria.
Chavez was asked about news reports that Venezuela is selling diesel fuel to Syria, which was condemned on Thursday by the UN General Assembly for its bloody crackdown on government opponents. Chavez is an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
“Have we accepted that anyone impose conditions on us for selling oil to the United States, or anyone else in this world? We’re free,” the Venezuelan leader said.
Photo: AFP
Chavez did not say whether Venezuela has shipped fuel to Syria, which is under sanctions imposed by the US and other nations.
“Have we asked the United States what it does with the fuel that we take to the United States?” Chavez added. “The greater part of the streets of Washington are paved with Venezuelan asphalt.”
Chavez, who commented while standing with actor Sean Penn at the presidential palace, noted that Venezuela sells large amounts of oil to the US, which remains its largest customer despite years of strained relations.
Chavez has accused the US and its allies of provoking violence in Syria in order to try to oust al-Assad. The Venezuelan leader has said it seems to be a similar pattern to events in Libya that led to the overthrow and killing of former leader Muammar Qaddafi.
Last year, the US government imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in