News from the Washington file
Washington File 15 January 2003 White House Briefing Transcript
........... Q: Ari, on the Venezuelan crisis, is the President directly involved in the negotiations to form the so-called group Friends of Venezuela? And why is the United States opposed to the inclusion of Brazil in that group?
MR. FLEISCHER: This is being led by the Organization of American States and is being handled principally by, as you would expect, the diplomatic channels through the State Department. This is an issue which the administration continues to monitor and monitor closely, because of the delicacy of the situation involving Venezuela and our hopes that the difficulties and the violence there can be resolved through peaceful, democratic and constitutional means.
THE PRESS: Thank you.
(end transcript)
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