Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez Frias says he is NOT anti-American

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Monday, June 16, 2003 By: David Coleman

President Hugo Chavez Frias has stressed that he is NOT against the Free Trade Area of Americas (FTAA), nor is he anti-American simply because he is critical of the United States dominated proposal, scheduled to come into effect from 2005.

"I ask that the North American public should not allow themselves to be deceived by versions of my supposed aversion to the United States of America, just because I have reservations about whether or not the FTAA agreement is convenient for South American interests."

Speaking from Manaus in Brazil, during a stop-over with Venezuelan and Brazilian business executives, Chavez Frias added "We are not anti-FTAA ... how could we be?" stressing that his relationship "within the FTAA is and always will be pro-South America."

"It would be suicide for South America to negotiate a deal with the FTAA under the circumstances that the region is permeated with insecurity, splits and weaknesses ... "we would not be able to compete commercially with the larger forces within the continental agreement ... they would demolish us ... this is what some people in South America don't want to understand."

"What we need is unity, a South American brotherhood to strengthen the region and ultimately to arrive at a point where we can reach commercial agreements under more advantageous conditions with whatever part of the world: North America, Europe, Asia!@

Chavez Frias has been proposing a "Bolivarian ideal" in the best traditions of South American Liberator from colonial Spanish rule, Venezuelan Simon Bolivar, who envisaged South America as one nation, one people ... he will be continuing the thrust tomorrow, Tuesday, at a Mercosur Heads of State meeting in Paraguay.   Mercosur is a Customs & Excise union created in 1991 with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay as founding members.  Chile and Bolivia are associated with Mercosur through free trade agreements but in May 2001 the Chavez Frias government made formal application for full membership with Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru as member nations of the Andean Community of Nations (CAN).

In related news: President Chavez Frias said the government will guarantee supplies of foreign currency to foreign investment, giving fast-track access to money markets despite exchange controls imposed in February at the end of a crippling 2-month opposition stoppage.  "We are sufficiently conscious and flexible to understand foreign investors' requirements, to facilitate the mechanisms to approve foreign currency transactions ... we give this guarantee to the world."

Although he emphasizes that the exchange controls are "transitional," President Chavez Frias was at pains to include that they will not be lifted in the short-term as urged by the Federation of Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Fedecamaras) which led the unsuccessful 2-day coup against his government in April 2002.

Fedecamaras executives and Venezuelan industrialists have been accusing the government of using "an workable and seriously deficient exchange system" to revenge the coup d'etat and the 2-month December-January stoppage which cost the nation at least $4 billion.  Chavez Frias insists that the controls were imposed since, having failed to out his government by fair means or foul, the opposition had taken to economic terrorism with speculative attacks on the nation's economy aimed at bleeding him out of government where the Carmona Estanga dictatorship had patently failed.

"In actual fact we now have an excellent result with US$15.6 billion foreign reserves against $14.7 billion in February ... we have been able to reduce country-risk perspective and interest rates and there has been a recent rise on Venezuelan capital markets to show for it."

"The Venezuelan economy will continue to strengthen ... this is the year of our recovery despite all the efforts by the opposition to destroy our efforts and to deceive the world into believing that Venezuela is a country in which you should not invest."