Chavez claims victory over US at OAS General Assembly

Jun 6, 2007, 21:11 GMT

Caracas - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Wednesday that the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) had been a great defeat for the United States government.

Left-wing populist and bitter US-critic Chavez said the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was upset at finding no support for her proposal to send an OAS commission to investigate claims that Venezuelan authorities violated press freedom.

Rice made the suggestion Monday in response to the Venezuelan government's decision last month not to renew the license of a broadcaster that had been critical of Chavez.

'She was trying to keep calm, she was troubled. I - who know her very well - know when she is troubled, when she is calm, and from the start she was troubled because (the US) did not find anyone to do the dirty work,' Chavez said in a press conference in Caracas.

'She had to come make (the proposal) herself and she had to take defeat painted on her face. And with her upset (she took) the failure, the greatest defeat, a moral defeat, a political defeat. And who is victorious here? Venezuela? No, dignity,' Chavez said.

The General Assembly of the OAS ended its 37th meeting in Panama City late Tuesday, with a final declaration aimed at conciliation of the sharp differences between the United States and Venezuela.

OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza stressed the organization's conciliatory role, and dismissed the US suggestion that the body investigate infringements on the press in Venezuela.

'I think the worst way to establish dialogue is to single out countries and make one country the focus of discussion on that matter. I do not think it is practical,' Insulza said. 'I believe that the Inter-American Democratic Charter is an instrument for dialogue and consensus, and not an instrument for singularization or pressure.'