U.S. Cables Show Brazil Warned Chavez 'Not to Play' with U.S. 'Fire'
"One
emissary Lula sent to Caracas was his chief-of-staff José Dirceu, who reportedly
warned Chavez about the advisability of 'playing with fire.' It doesn’t appear
that Lula's suggestion had any effect, as the Venezuelan leader continued
to attack the United States on all fronts."
President Hugo Chavez
after calling President George W. Bush 'El Diablo,' or in English, 'the
Devil,' at the 61st session of the United Nations General Assembly, Sept.
20, 2006.
Madrid: Since his first
inauguration as president, the incendiary rhetoric of Hugo Chavez has not only aggravated
the United States, the main recipient of his invective, but Brazil as well. Through
private messages asking Chavez to show more restraint, Brazil President Lula da
Silva has sought to calm the virulence of the Bolivarian's discourse. One emissary
Lula sent to Caracas was his chief-of-staff José Dirceu, who reportedly
warned Chavez about the advisability of “playing with fire.” Dirceu confirmed
this himself in an interview with U.S. Ambassador to Brasilia John Danilovich. There
is no way to tell if Dirceu was really that cutting in his remarks to Chavez, or if
the talk was just the fulfillment of a promise intended to placate the United States,
which was apparently irritated by Brasilia's silence in the face of the paratrooper
ex-lieutenant's verbal excesses.
[Editor's Note: This article
is based on a U.S.
diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks].
It doesn’t appear that Lula's
suggestion had any effect, as the Venezuelan leader continued to attack the
United States on all fronts, and frequently includes in his remarks Columbia's [former]
President Álvaro Uribe, Washington's ally in a region where Chavez wants to
consolidate his influence. A year after his first meeting with U.S. diplomats, his
insults of George W. Bush were terrible: “donkey [ass],” “alcoholic” and “murderer”
were just a few of the epithets he voiced in public [see video below]. A State
Department report filed by Ambassador Danilovich in April 2005 relates that
Lula’s key adviser traveled to Caracas with the permission of the president, “delivering
a forceful message that Chavez should end his provocative rhetoric and
concentrate on the domestic problems of his country.”
HUGO CHAVEZ CALLS PRESIDENT BUSH
A 'DONKEY'
The U.S. ambassador told Dirceu
that Washington policy in this regard was not to respond to Chavez, so as to prevent
him from having any excuses and make it easier for him to demonstrate his true
nature, “i.e.: to let him hang himself.”
The clashes between Chavez
and the United States were particularly intense when the Venezuelan president
concluded that the 2002 "oil
coup," which almost forced him from power, was promoted by Washington
during secret meetings with the opposition. “Chavez' provocations against the U.S.
harm the national interests of Venezuela and are of concern to Brazil and its neighbors,”
wrote the U.S. diplomat.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
[Editor's Note: The 2002
coup attempt against Chavez is sometimes referred as the "oil coup, because
it occurred after Chávez had passed a number of controversial laws in November 2001,
and attempted to strengthen government control over the state oil company, PDVSA.]
Dirceu promised to inform
Chavez that it "isn't only the U.S. government and U.S. elites that feel hostile
toward him - American business executives and even the 'man in the street' now
view Venezuela as a problem for the U.S. Dirceu will stress to Chavez that such
a tense situation with American society cannot possibly benefit him or his
country."
However, the U.S. ambassador
emphasized to Lula’s chief adviser that in his opinion, the “strategic
alliance” between Lula and Chavez and the "apparent reluctance of Lula and
regional leaders to openly refute or criticize Chavez's most outrageous
comments can lead some observers to assume that Brazil and others tacitly agree
with Chavez's views and that Chavez is the alliance's de facto spokesman.”
Presidents Chavez and
Lula: Friendly advice be ignored?
The position of Cuba was also
touched on at the meeting. According to Dirceu, despite the excellent
relations between Venezuela and Cuba, regional tension doesn't interest Havana.
Under the contrary, “Cuba's internal problems are so profound and its economy
so fragile that Castro's regime desperately needs a calm regional environment
to attempt to deal with these issues and to try to attract more foreign
investment. Dirceu reiterated what he said in his meetings in Washington, in
the sense that if the government of the United States would permit trade and
private contacts with Cuba, the Caribbean island, “would be unrecognizable in
five years.”
