Opposition bench rejects AN statement against US Ambassador Charles Shapiro's undiplomatic antics

<a href=www.vheadline.com>venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Wednesday, May 21, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Christian Socialist (COPEI) National Assemblyman Cesar Perez Vivas  has hit out at a proposal from Movimiento Quinta Republica (MVR) deputy Tarek William Saab to condemn US Ambassador Charles Shapiro for his silly World Press Freedom Day show.

Perez Vivas says the proposal, which was approved in a Tuesday sitting, does not represent the totality of Parliament. 

"Saab should have presented the motion as a MVR proposal and not as the proposal of a plural Assembly, in which there are different perspectives on the matter." 

Most of the opposition preferred not to support Saab's proposal, alleging that the government was using the incident as a smokescreen  for the real problems facing Venezuela. 

Other critics complain that Saab's motion was rejected because it was not worded as a reaction to an insult to all Venezuelans but as a defense of the Chavez Frias administration.

Going back down memory lane, if the Chavists in opposition had opposed such a motion, they would have been stigmatized "anti-patriotic." Deputy Perez Vivas is not reported as explaining his take on the US Embassy incident.