February 27, 2005
Venezuela warns of U.S. overthrow plans against President Chávez

(San Francisco Chronicle) - "Venezuelan Foreign Minister Alí Rodríguez warned that the Bush administration may be plotting to overthrow his country's leftist leader, Hugo Chávez, in what he called a throwback to Washington's long history of gunboat diplomacy in Latin America.

In a speech at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, Rodríguez added fuel to the burning dispute between the White House and Chávez, saying U.S. officials' recent criticisms of the Venezuelan president were 'ignorant' and 'arrogant' (...)

Yet Rodríguez's visit to the Bay Area illustrated how Venezuela, as the fourth-largest source of imported oil to the United States, has clout no other Latin American nation can match.

Rodríguez spent negotiating with officials at ChevronTexaco's headquarters in San Ramon. At the Commonwealth Club, he was accompanied by Ali Moshiri, managing director of ChevronTexaco's Latin America division. The oil giant is a multibillion-dollar investor in Venezuela, producing large quantities of oil and building two huge plants to produce liquefied natural gas for the U.S. markets.

'Strategically, Venezuela is very important. We believe it has the potential to provide 35 percent of U.S. energy, in oil and natural gas,' Moshiri said after Rodríguez's speech, adding, 'Venezuela has been treating the private sector very well.'

Chávez survived a recall vote in August with 59 percent of the vote, and his treasury receives $30 billion annually in oil revenues (...)".