Downing Street Says » President Chavez-Latin America

Put that last time President Chavez visited in 2001 he saw The Queen and the Prime Minister, but this time, he was not doing so, and was the complete breakdown of communication with a major oil producer a good thing, the PMOS replied that in terms of the visit, it was a private visit, and he was not going to comment on private visits. With regards to Latin America as a whole, yes, countries like Venezuela were important countries, but we should not lose sight of the overall picture in Latin America, and the overall direction there. If people looked at the role President Lula, or President Fox, for example, was playing, it was a vitally important role. The dialogue took place at many different levels throughout Latin America, and we should not lose sight of that picture.

Asked if the Prime Minister had met, or would meet President Chavez at the summit, the PMOS said we should wait and see what happened at lunch. Given the nature of the numbers of leaders involved, such events had a dynamic of their own. The visit to London was a private visit, therefore the PMOS could not comment. In terms of the overall picture, the Prime Minister’s primary focus today was on trade, and that was why he was seeing the people he was seeing.

Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about the need to protect British companies such as BP, the PMOS replied that obviously, one of the roles that the Government had was to represent the interests of British companies such as BP and British Gas in these issues. Primarily, however, this was first and foremost a matter for the countries concerned, and the PMOS said that he did not want to talk about internal decisions for particular countries. It was in countries’ own long term interests to ensure that foreign investment was protected and was seen to be worthwhile, not just by the countries, but also by the companies concerned. It was simply a statement of the obvious that companies would not invest in countries if they believed that that investment was put at risk.

Asked if there was concern that Venezuela would put up oil prices, the PMOS replied that again, he did not want to interfere in countries’ domestic affairs. It was a statement of the obvious that it was in the interests both of the producer countries, and also of the consumer countries that we had stability in energy markets. Therefore, what people should bear in mind was that it benefited both sides to have as much stability as possible.

1 Comment »

"the PMOS replied that in terms of the visit, it was a private visit, and he was not going to comment on private visits"

Yeah, right. The President of a major oil-producing nation visits and you thumb your nose at him; no big deal though. Of course, the fact that he’s not best friends with international uber-bully the USA has nothing to do with it, does it? Oh, and I’ll give you a clue, you fuckwit; the REASON oil prices are currently so high is because of this type of attitude. Not forgetting the attitude to Iran, and Iraq too. Hmm, strange; it seems our attitude to almost ALL major oil-producing nations right now leaves a lot to be desired. You’d think our leaders would have more sense, unless of course this is deliberate policy. In which case, that’s ok then…
Comment by SmokeNMirrors — 14 May 2006 on 2:27 pm | Link

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» Friday, May 12, 2006

President Chavez-Latin America

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