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Ali Rodriguez-Araque
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
When Ali Rodriguez-Araque spoke to The Club in February, the headlines Venezuela had been making in the U.S. press were focusing on the strained relationship between the Bush administration and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez - tension brought on by Washington's unease over Venezuela's apparent overtures to China and Iran, and Chavez's allegation that America backed the failed coup to oust him in 2002. Early in his remarks, Rodriguez-Araque quotes from the announcement for this program published in The Commonwealth and at The Club's web site - copy which painted a picture in which all was not well between Caracas and D.C. In this edited version of his prepared remarks, Rodriguez-Araque addresses this supposed rift with the U.S., defends President Chavez's record and lays out Venezuela's five strategic points for positive transformation.
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