 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez speaks during a ceremony presenting the new leadership of the National Assembly in Caracas. AFP photo. |
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez joked Tuesday that the United States should send filmmaker Oliver Stone, actor-activist Sean Penn or linguist Noam Chomsky to be ambassador to Venezuela.
State Department spokesman Philip Crowley however told reporters the United States stood by diplomat Larry Palmer. "We appreciate President Chavez's suggestions, but the fact is we are not looking for another candidate to be the U.S. ambassador to Caracas," he said.
"We've made clear that we felt very strongly that Larry Palmer was the appropriate candidate, fully qualified and would have been and would be an effective interlocutor to improve relations between the United States and Venezuela."
On Monday, Crowley had left the door open to naming a new ambassador to Venezuela. The spokesman said President Barack Obama's administration never formally withdrew its choice of Palmer but noted his nomination formally expired alongside the former Congress last month.
"We will have to re-nominate an ambassador candidate," Crowley said, adding that the Obama administration would be "evaluating" whether there could be a nominee other than Palmer.
But on Wednesday, as a new Congress got underway, Crowley was non-committal when asked whether the Obama administration would re-nominate Palmer to the post. Chavez in August announced he would "veto" Palmer's appointment because the candidate told lawmakers during his Senate confirmation hearing that Venezuela harbored leftist guerrillas from Colombia and that the Venezuelan military was under Cuban influence and low in morale.
Late last year, the Chavez government finally withdrew its diplomatic approval of Palmer and the Obama administration revoked Venezuelan Ambassador to Washington Bernardo Alvarez’ U.S. visa.
State Department spokesman Philip Crowley however told reporters the United States stood by diplomat Larry Palmer. "We appreciate President Chavez's suggestions, but the fact is we are not looking for another candidate to be the U.S. ambassador to Caracas," he said.
"We've made clear that we felt very strongly that Larry Palmer was the appropriate candidate, fully qualified and would have been and would be an effective interlocutor to improve relations between the United States and Venezuela."
On Monday, Crowley had left the door open to naming a new ambassador to Venezuela. The spokesman said President Barack Obama's administration never formally withdrew its choice of Palmer but noted his nomination formally expired alongside the former Congress last month.
"We will have to re-nominate an ambassador candidate," Crowley said, adding that the Obama administration would be "evaluating" whether there could be a nominee other than Palmer.
But on Wednesday, as a new Congress got underway, Crowley was non-committal when asked whether the Obama administration would re-nominate Palmer to the post. Chavez in August announced he would "veto" Palmer's appointment because the candidate told lawmakers during his Senate confirmation hearing that Venezuela harbored leftist guerrillas from Colombia and that the Venezuelan military was under Cuban influence and low in morale.
Late last year, the Chavez government finally withdrew its diplomatic approval of Palmer and the Obama administration revoked Venezuelan Ambassador to Washington Bernardo Alvarez’ U.S. visa.
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