Summit of
Americas' Final Declaration Still At Stake
Obama To Visit
Colombia In Next Latin American Trip
Latin American
Leaders Laud Obama's Offer of Closer Ties
Chavez Names
New Ambassador to Washington
Chavez Names
New Ambassador to Washington
PORT OF SPAIN - In a new effort to improve
relations with Washington, Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez said Saturday he has
designated a candidate for the ambassador to
the United States.
"I've spoken to Roy Chanderton that I
nominated him as a candidate for the
ambassador to the United States," Chavez
told reporters in Port of Spain, where he
and other American leaders, including U.S.
President Barack Obama, were gathering for
the 5th Summit of the Americas.
Chanderton had served as Venezuela's foreign
minister, and currently is the country's
ambassador to the Organization of American
States.
Earlier on Saturday, Chavez met with U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to
discuss a possible normalization of
diplomatic relations between the two
countries.
The meeting was focused on the opportunity
to exchange ambassadors between the two
countries, Chavez told Venezuelan state
television later.
At the three-day Americas summit, the
U.S.-Venezuela relations seemed to have been
turning warm.
On Friday evening, Chavez and Obama
exchanged greetings and shook hands with
smile before the inaugural session of the
summit. "I want to be your friend," said
Chavez in his first face-to-face meeting
with Obama since the U.S. president took
office in January.
On Saturday morning, Chavez presented Obama
a book titled "The Open Veins of Latin
America" by Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano.
Reports here said talks between the two
leaders during the all-day summit were
"relaxed and natural."
The U.S.-Venezuela relations have been tense
in recent years. In September 2008, Chavez
ordered the expulsion of the U.S.
ambassador, in solidarity with the Bolivian
government's decision to expel the U.S.
ambassador in La Paz.
In retaliation, the Bush administration
ordered the expulsion of the Venezuelan
ambassador in Washington. e embassies and
institutions, in order to really embrace
that spirit," Chavez said.
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