Guest Commentary: And the battle of political rhetoric continues

Alo Presidente

It is a time of war. I am not referring to the war in Iraq, but the verbal war between the US government and the government of Hugo Chavez which is currently being fought through media venues. It seems every chance Chavez gets to make a public statement, he denounces the imperialistic US government run by a "donkey." Washington's retaliation is no more sophisticated, we were the first to compare Chavez to Hitler. Of course neither side is winning, in fact, the more accusations made, the more incendiary comments fired, the farther the countries become from having a civil dialogue about bilateral relations. Despite all the published criticism, these verbal battles have not transformed into actions. Both the US government and the Venezuelan government have the liberty to throw insults back and forth, because underneath the superficial attacks of differing ideologies is the stark reality: oil dictates US/Venezuela relations.

(The State Department)

Recently cited in the Miami Herald, Chavez reiterates that he is fully prepared for a U.S. intervention in the region. By making this statement he is reminding the US government of the threat of his revolutionary force and reinforces the solidarity he has created between countries such as Cuba, Bolivia, El Salvador and Nicaragua. In this article, Chavez also asserts his opinion that, contrary to US belief, Iran is not using its nuclear energy program to produce atomic bombs. It is evident that with oppositional ideologies the United States and Venezuela government will ever agree on foreign policy. However, as long as US/Venezuela relations remain "reactive" instead of "active" the critical remarks will not elicit any changes.