January 11, 2005: Headlines: COS - Venezuela: COS - Dominican Republic: Expansion: Congress: Miami Herald: Senator Chris Dodd suggested to President Chavez that Venezuela should accept Peace Corps volunteers
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January 11, 2005: Headlines: COS - Venezuela: COS - Dominican Republic: Expansion: Congress: Miami Herald: Senator Chris Dodd suggested to President Chavez that Venezuela should accept Peace Corps volunteers
Senator Chris Dodd suggested to President Chavez that Venezuela should accept Peace Corps volunteers
Senator Chris Dodd suggested to President Chavez that Venezuela should accept Peace Corps volunteers
U.S. senators, Chávez discuss ties
Florida's Bill Nelson and two other U.S. senators met with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez to discuss bilateral relations.
BY PHIL GUNSON
Special to The Herald
CARACAS - Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chávez promised to cooperate in keeping Colombian FARC guerrillas from obtaining sanctuary in Venezuelan soil, according to three U.S. senators who met with him Monday.
Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., who has been critical of Chávez's alleged closeness to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, said the issue was discussed at length during the two-hour meeting. He described the session as ``very friendly [in] tone.''
The comments followed an incident last month -- which is still causing waves in both Venezuela and Colombia -- in which a leading FARC member, Rodrigo Granda, was allegedly kidnapped in Caracas and smuggled into Colombia for ''arrest'' there.
Chávez said Sunday he had ''no doubt'' that Granda was kidnapped, but said the guerrilla leader had been granted Venezuelan citizenship on the basis of what he called ``false documents.''
The president did not comment after the meeting with the Americans.
The three senators, members of the Foreign Relations Committee, made a point of emphasizing the need for a fresh start in the often troubled relationship between Washington and Chávez's government.
''This is a very, very important bilateral relationship,'' said Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., the ranking member of the delegation.
The United States receives 13 percent of its oil from Venezuela, and Dodd said it was ``critically important . . . to have that continuing flow of oil.''
The senators also played down worries over Chávez's stated desire to reduce Venezuela's dependence on the U.S. market, particularly by selling oil to China.
''My global concern,'' said Nelson, ``is that we ought to be weaning ourselves from dependence on foreign oil -- particularly the Middle East, but Venezuela as well.''
In a clear bid to bring Chávez back into the U.S. camp, Dodd also suggested that Venezuela should accept Peace Corps volunteers. ''Chávez didn't say yes, he didn't say no,'' Nelson said. But it's out there for discussion, on the table.''
Cuba has sent thousands of doctors and sports instructors to Venezuela in recent years, but U.S. offers of aid after killer floods in 1999 were turned down, apparently for political reasons.
The U.S. delegation, which also includes Sen. Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I., left Venezuela later Monday on the next leg of a trip that also includes Paraguay, Argentina and Peru.
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Story Source: Miami Herald
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Venezuela; COS - Dominican Republic; Expansion; Congress
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