[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 107 (Wednesday, September 13, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1458]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      VENEZUELA'S PRESIDENT CHAVEZ

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DOUG BEREUTER

                              of nebraska

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 12, 2000

  Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, I submit for my colleagues the August 16, 
2000, Norfork Daily News editorial entitled ``Chavez travels: 
Venezuela's new president provides incentive to emphasize energy 
search.'' As the editorial correctly notes, Venezuela's new president, 
Hugo Chavez, is not winning friends here in America. At the request of 
the Speaker, this Member accompanied him on President Clinton's one-day 
trip to Colombia to view first hand the efforts within that country and 
its neighbors to reduce or eliminate the coca and poppy production, 
which are the basis of cocaine and heroin.
  It is clear that Mr. Chavez considers himself, with a significant 
degree of grandiosity and self-assuredness, as the emerging political 
power in the region. This appears to have dangerous implications, and 
such actions by President Chavez, as noted in the editorial to include 
known belligerents to our national security, must be closely watched 
and, if necessary, responded to immediately.
  Venezuela is the United States' leading supplier of imported crude 
and refined petroleum products. The United States accounts for 53 
percent of Venezuela's exports. Venezuela's activities and cooperation 
within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) under 
the Chavez Government was one factor in doubling oil prices.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time we let Mr. Chavez know that we are concerned 
about his actions as a hemispheric neighbor.

              [From the Norfolk Daily News, Aug. 16, 2000]

    Chavez Travels--Venezuela's New President Provides Incentive to 
                        Emphasize Energy Search

       Venezuela's new president, Hugo Chavez, was not winning 
     friends among America's policymakers by cozying up to Cuban 
     Dictator Fidel Castro or suggesting that Libya was a model of 
     ``participatory democracy.'' Now he has taken a step further 
     in that direction by traveling to Iraq as part of a visit to 
     OPEC nations that make up the cartel of oil producers.
       It is the first visit of any foreign leader to Iraq since 
     Saddam Hussein's forces invaded Kuwait 10 years ago, bringing 
     on the Gulf War.
       America cannot dictate who Chavez's friends can be, though 
     it is cause for alarm that he embraces such firm enemies. 
     Those friendships, however, indicate to Americans that 
     Venezuela's oil supplies, important to the United States, 
     cannot be taken for granted.
       That is no reason to waste time denouncing Chavez, but an 
     incentive to re-emphasize the importance of developing new 
     energy sources within the U.S.

     

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