Venezuela formally protested its foreign minister's temporary detainment at a US airport on Tuesday as the US ambassador to Venezuela said he hoped to breach the two governments' widening differences.
Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro submitted a letter of protest to US Ambassador William Brownfield on Tuesday demanding that Washington publicly make amends for the incident at a New York airport over the weekend, when Maduro says authorities tried to frisk him and threatened to handcuff him as he prepared to board a flight.
"Venezuela demands ... appropriate measures be taken for the unfriendly, reprehensible and unacceptable action," taken by immigration officials at John F. Kennedy International Airport, the letter said.
Brownfield said he had "a good meeting and a good conversation" with Maduro but acknowledged that his government has "important" differences with that of President Hugo Chavez, which they must both try to "smooth, limit or eliminate."
"Logic suggests that we should be able to collaborate," said Brownfield. "Hopefully, we'll be successful."
Venezuela is closely tied to the US as one of its top five suppliers of oil, but in the past week already acrid political relations between the two countries took another turn for the worse when Chavez called US President George W. Bush the "devil" at the UN General Assembly.
US officials have apologized for Saturday's diplomatic blunder at the airport in which Maduro was detained for 90 minutes. But they deny his claims of mistreatment, while US ambassador to the UN John Bolton has called Maduro's protest "street theater" and propaganda.
Chavez, who called the airport mishap another provocation "by Mr Devil," warned earlier Tuesday that Venezuela would respond with "equal treatment" if such an incident were repeated, though the protest letter did not mention that.
Chavez has threatened to expel Brownfield in the past, accusing him of provoking confrontations following incidents earlier this year in which the American ambassador was harassed. In April, Brownfield's convoy was pelted with eggs and tomatoes and chased by rowdy Chavez supporters after venturing into one of the Venezuelan leader's strongholds.
Chavez suggested on Tuesday that he would not dwell on the latest incident, and turned his attention to Venezuela's bid to win a seat over US-backed Guatemala on the UN Security Council.
He slammed US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for suggesting that Venezuela's anti-US stance would make the 15-member Security Council unworkable.
"It's more evidence of how the US government sees itself as the owner of the world," Chavez told reporters at the presidential palace. "It's the United States that should leave the Security Council."
Rice warned in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Monday that Venezuela's ascension "would mean the end of consensus on the Security Council."
Referring to the Venezuelan leader's UN speech, Rice said, "I think Hugo Chavez did himself no good with that speech. And whatever press attention it got, it also got the attention of a lot of people who worry about the responsibilities of the Security Council."
US-Venezuela ties sharply deteriorated after the Bush administration swiftly recognized leaders who ousted Chavez in a 2002 coup before the Venezuelan returned to power amid a popular uprising.
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