Caribbean Net News: Washington and Caracas again on talking terms

CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP): Washington and Caracas are again on talking terms, the US ambassador here said after meeting the Venezuelan foreign minister, a major step aimed at ending years of frosty relations.

"I just had a conversation, and in my opinion a very positive one, with the foreign minister," US ambassador William Brownfield told reporters after his meeting with Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela's top diplomat. "I believe that today we start a bilateral dialogue, this is the first step."

Maduro, who said that Washington had called for the meeting, described the talk as "frank, very clear," as well as "cordial within the tension that can be created by a conversation where we speak with frankness."

US-Venezuelan relations have been strained since President Hugo Chavez took power eight years ago with populist, pro-Cuba policies and virulently anti-US rhetoric.

But the United States is also Venezuela's largest trading partner, and Venezuela the source of about 11 percent of all US oil imports.

The meeting comes just one day after the top US State Department official for hemispheric affairs, Tom Shannon, had positive words for the December 3 election that swept Chavez into a second six-year term as president.

"You all know that the Venezuelans have enough reason to mistrust statements that could come from the United States government," said Maduro.

But Venezuelans also have the "maturity ... to sit down to dialogue in a respectful manner" with the US government.

Brownfield said that the two discussed issues of common interest, and both governments "coincided in a system or a process to touch these themes in the future.

"I believe we began with ... a recognition by both governments of the electoral results in November in the United States and in December here in Venezuela," Brownfield said, referring to the opposition Democrats taking control of the US Congress and Chavez' re-election.

"Hopefully this dialogue, this first step today, will produce more productive and positive dialogue in the coming year," he said.

In April 2002 Chavez accused the US government of supporting a military coup against him, and in September he famously described the US president as "the devil" at the United Nations General Assembly.

Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said on Tuesday that his government would remain "very cautious" with regards to Shannon's comments that Washington wanted to improve its relations with Caracas.

Shannon in October replaced conservative Roger Noriega in his State Department post.

"If the United States wants dialogue, Venezuela will always keep the door open. But I doubt they are sincere in this," Chavez said on Tuesday, his first news conference since his re-election.

"It is possible to talk to the devil, but you need human strength," said Chavez.

Brownfield acknowledged that substantive talks will take time.

"We have to walk before we run, we are going to start with small steps," he said.

"Hopefully the next time that I speak with you I have more concrete results to mention."

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