Chavez threatens to stop Venezualan oil to US
James Chamblee
In a three-hour anti-American diatribe that described US President
George Bush as an illegitimate leader and an "asshole", Chavez
spelled out on Sunday what would happen if America turned up the
diplomatic pressure.
Yep, he knows George all right.
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
Reuters via Al Jazeera - 1 Mar 2004
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/91EC7937-5B25-41D2-A138-9A61A7562168.htm
Chavez threatens to stop oil to US
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told some 60,000 cheering supporters
he would block US access to Venezuela's oil resources if Washington
moves against his government.
In a three-hour anti-American diatribe that described US President
George Bush as an illegitimate leader and an "asshole", Chavez
spelled out on Sunday what would happen if America turned up the
diplomatic pressure.
"If Mr Bush is possessed with the madness of trying to blockade
Venezuela, or worse for them, to invade Venezuela in response to
the desperate song of his lackeys ... sadly not a drop of petroleum
will come to them from Venezuela."
He also vowed never to quit office like his Haitian counterpart as
troops battled with opposition protesters demanding a recall
referendum against him.
Diplomatic niceties
Chavez has long accused Washington of backing the opposition, which
has tried to oust him twice - once in a nationwide strike that ended
last year and in an aborted 2002 coup.
The US is keenly interested in Venezuela, its fourth-largest oil
supplier and the only Latin American member of the Organisation of
Oil Producing Countries, but routinely denies all accusations of
creating political instability.
The president spoke a day before Venezuela's election council is
due to release its preliminary judgment on opposition petitions for
a recall referendum on his government.
Counting signatures
The Organisation of American States (OAS) and the Carter Centre,
which are observing the referendum process, said they would make a
preliminary ruling on whether the opposition had collected the
minimum 2.4 million valid signatures required.
The opposition says it handed over 3.4 million signatures.
But Chavez says his opponents' petition is riddled with forgeries
while opposition leaders accuse some officials in the electoral
council of trying to block the poll by disqualifying many valid
signatures.
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