Chavez: Venezuela Backs Socialism Shift
by Christopher Toothaker
President Hugo Chavez snubbed a U.S. overture for dialogue, saying Tuesday he doubts Washington sincerely wants to improve relations.
Chavez, who overwhelmingly won another six-year term in elections Sunday, said if the U.S. really wants to take meaningful steps, it would halt the war in Iraq and extradite a jailed Cuban militant who is wanted in Venezuela for a 1976 airliner bombing.
“They want dialogue but on the condition that you accept their positions,” Chavez said at his first news conference since Sunday’s vote.
“If the government of the United States wants dialogue, Venezuela will always have its door open,” he said. “But I doubt the U.S. government is sincere.”
