American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture
Today’s podcast at 11AM Eastern will be on that warm, 5-minute long handshake between Hillary Clinton and Hugo Chavez at the Dilma Rousseff inauguration in Brazil.
You can listen live, or to the archived podcast at your convenience, here.
The Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean will be up later today.
Following a short-lived, albeit modest, display of gonadal fortitude, the Obama administration is back to appeasing Hugo Chavez.
Appeasement never works, but the Obama administration keeps trying, and a picture says a thousand words.
First there was that time in Trinidad where Obama, like Ezio Pinza sang in South Pacific, some enchanted evening ran across a crowded room to shake hands with Hugo. Remember?
Hugo seized the opportunity and gifted Obama a book, Las venas abiertas de América Latina (Latin America’s Open Veins) by Uruguayan Marxist writer Eduardo Galeano. Obama got up and shook hands again, and again.
The Obama administration back then “reset” US-Venezuela relations by reinstating the ambassadors: in 2008 Venezuela had expelled Ambassador Patrick Duffy, and Bernardo Alvarez Herrera was consequently expelled from the US.
This time Chavez said that Larry Palmer, the Obama administration’s Ambassador to Venezuela, would not be allowed to take his post, so the US revoked Alvarez Herrera’s visa. Obama supporters who hurl accusations of racism towards anyone who does not agree with Obama’s decisions remain curiously silent.
In the meantime, Venezuelans are bearing the latest currency devaluation.
So in the middle of all this, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went to the inauguration of former terrorist Dilma Rousseff as President of Brazil, and of course Hugo managed to take advantage of the opportunity for another photo-op.
Who would have thunk it?
Chavez, Clinton chat at Brazil inauguration
“They talked and smiled, at least for five minutes. It looked like a social conversation, both were smiling,” a Brazilian official who witnessed the encounter told AFP on condition of anonymity.
…
At one point, Chavez extended his hand to Clinton, who shook it, smiling. They chatted for a few minutes before moving on to formally greeting Rousseff.
Five minutes, to be exact.
Here are the photos,
Give me five!
Love is in the air
And video,
Hugo even got bragging rights,
“We greeted each other. (Clinton), I think, was entering the room. She had a very spontaneous smile and I greeted her with the same effusiveness. … It was a pleasant moment. We spoke about two or three specific things,” Chavez told VTV.
Whatever the topic was, Hillary had a grand ole time,
That was a humdinger!
It even looked like it went so well Hugo had Hillary begging for more,
Let us pray
In short, yet another instance where we, the American people, can rest assured we’re in the best of hands.
Ed Morrissey beat me to the story:
Obama to Chavez: Pound sand
President Obama has kicked the Venezuelan ambassador out of the US in retaliation for the rejection of Obama’s choice of ambassador to Venezuela
…
Alvarez Herrera isn’t in the US at the moment, which means Obama effectively locked him out of the country. Venezuelan officials in Caracas confirmed the revocation on Twitter this morning. That leaves both countries without an official representative in the respective capitals.Obama essentially called Chavez’ bluff with strictly reciprocal action. Chavez dared him to cut diplomatic ties altogether, but Obama didn’t go that far. Officially, diplomatic ties remain in place and both embassies remain in operation. If Chavez wants to cut diplomatic ties, he’ll have to do it himself.
While Bloomberg News says Alvarez is in Caracas and EuroNews has video report saying Alvarez Herrera is thought to still be in the USA, either way, his visa is revoked.
Mind you, Chavez had announced that he’d reject Palmer back in August,
Chavez had announced in August that he would not accept Palmer’s appointment to be the next US ambassador to Venezuela because of comments Palmer made during his confirmation hearing in the senate.
Palmer said that he believed Venezuela was allowing leftists FARC fighters to find safe haven in the country and that Venezuela’s military was under Cuban influence and suffering from low morale.
This is not the first time Alvarez was sent home by the US. Back in 2008 Alvarez was expelled after Chavez expelled US Ambassador Patrick Duffy. They both were later reinstated in 2009.
UPDATE
Venezuelan blogger Daniel adds some local flavor to the news item.