http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/13288417.htm

Posted on Wed, Nov. 30, 2005


VENEZUELA
Snub thwarts Chávez's wooing of U.S.
Venezuela snubbed a visiting congressional delegation at the Caracas airport. Just what transpired at the airport -- and why -- remains unclear.
BY PABLO BACHELET
pbachelet@herald.com

WASHINGTON - President Hugo Chávez's campaign to woo members of the U.S. Congress suffered a major setback this week as Venezuelan authorities, amid contradictory reports, snubbed members of a senior delegation of U.S. lawmakers by not letting them disembark from their aircraft for several hours.

The lawmakers eventually left without ever getting off the plane.

Chávez and his top government officials had been meeting with members of Congress on a regular basis. Some were advocating more dialogue between the two nations, which often lob bitter accusations against each other.

But after the Caracas airport incident, members who advocate closer ties are going to be ''in the margins,'' said Michael Shifter, with the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington think-tank. ``The vast majority of members of Congress are going to take this as a slap in the face.''

The delegation, led by Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., the powerful chairman of the House International Relations Committee, arrived in Caracas on Monday afternoon, hoping to find ways to ease rising tensions between Venezuela and the United States.

Instead, the bipartisan delegation of six members of Congress and 22 staffers departed two hours later in frustration after airport authorities refused to allow the aircraft to park near the official VIP terminal and then didn't allow vehicles to approach the plane to pick up the passengers, according to U.S. officials.

DISAPPOINTED

Hyde's office said in a statement that delegation members were disappointed with the Venezuelan government's ``capricious and unexplained decision.''

The Venezuelan foreign ministry said in a statement that the arrival was ''delayed a few more minutes'' because the airport's VIP terminal was reserved for the Spanish defense minister, who was in Caracas to sign a weapons deal that the U.S. opposes.

The statement said the office of Vice President José Vicente Rangel was quickly negotiating a solution to the ''inconveniences,'' but that the delegation had already decided to leave.

This was the first time a congressional delegation had become embroiled in the war of words between the Bush administration and the Venezuelan government.

Chávez has accused the United States of planning to invade his country and unseat his leftist government, while the U.S. government says Chávez is governing in an increasingly authoritarian fashion.

Still, a steady stream of lawmakers has traveled to Venezuela to meet with senior officials, including Chávez.

In recent weeks, the Venezuelan government negotiated the distribution of cheap heating oil to low-income U.S. residents through the offices of Reps. Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., and William Delahunt, D-Mass.

The Hyde delegation's visit came just days before a legislative election in Venezuela.

The two sides, according to U.S. officials, started bickering over the group's agenda, which included a meeting with opposition leaders and the Súmate nongovernmental group. Venezuelan officials accuse Súmate of seeking to topple the government.

MEETING TIME

The Venezuelans wanted to know when the Súmate meeting was to take place, something the U.S. refused to divulge, fearing the Venezuelan government might ''sandbag'' the agenda, said a senior U.S. Embassy official, who agreed to be interviewed only if his name was not revealed because of the delicate nature of bilateral relations.

Trouble began at MaiquetÃÂ*a International Airport well before the plane was scheduled to land, the embassy official said.

When embassy officials asked whether it would be allowed to land near the VIP terminal, the airport authority gave contradictory responses.

The plane eventually parked far away and airport security refused to let an embassy bus drive up to collect the delegation.

Eventually, the Venezuelans dispatched an official airport bus to pick up the passengers. The vehicle approached but then turned around and drove off.

PROMISES

With the acting ambassador out of the country, the embassy's No. 2 official, Kevin Whitaker, called the vice president's office and was promised that the issue would be resolved quickly.

But about half an hour later, the members of Congress huddled and decided it was time to leave.

''After waiting for two hours, it was clear that they did not want us there,'' Luis Fortuño, Puerto Rico's congressional delegate, said in phone interview from Brazil, where the delegation was Tuesday.