Venezuelan Lawmakers Condemn U.S. Envoy

Posted on Tue, May. 20, 2003 Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela - Ruling party lawmakers passed a resolution Tuesday criticizing Ambassador Charles S. Shapiro for what they said was interference in Venezuelan affairs.

In a vote boycotted by opposition lawmakers, Congress passed a motion rejecting Shapiro's remarks on press freedom as "defamatory."

Members of President Hugo Chavez's Fifth Republic Movement also slammed a skit by a Venezuelan comic that made fun of Chavez. The skit was performed during a May 14 reception at Shapiro's residence. Tuesday's resolution claimed the "lack of respect" shown Chavez occurred with Shapiro's consent.

U.S. Embassy officials couldn't immediately be reached by telephone for comment. But in May 15 statement on the issue, the embassy distanced intself from the comic's presentation.

The statement said that although the skit "seemed to us in bad taste ... the embassy does not know in advance nor does it censure what its guests are going to say, whether it's an invited speaker or humorist."

At the reception, Shapiro expressed concern about "deteriorating press freedoms" in Venezuela, citing unpunished attacks on dozens of journalists.

The controversy is the latest in a string of differences that created often tense relations between the United States and Venezuela during Chavez's four-year government.

Chavez has irked Washington by strengthening ties with Cuba and Libya. And ties also suffered after the United States initially blamed Chavez for his own downfall during an April 2002 coup that briefly ousted the Venezuelan president from office. The two nations have also differed over U.S. anti-drug efforts, and the Chavez has been critical of U.S.-led efforts to establish a hemispheric free trade zone.