----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, August 06, 2000 9:32 PM Subject: [iac-disc.] Chavez to Make Historic Iraq Visit Sunday, August 6, 2000 Chavez to Make Historic Iraq Visit By STEVEN GUTKIN, Associated Press Writer CARACAS, Venezuela -President Hugo Chavez took off Sunday for a tour of OPEC nations that will include the first visit by a foreign head of state to Iraq since the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Sunday was the 10th anniversary of the imposition of U.N. sanctions against Iraq for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait; and in the decade since not a single foreign leader has called on Saddam Hussein in his home territory. Not until Chavez. The Venezuelan leader has made a point of staking out an independent foreign policy -forging a close friendship with Cuba's Fidel Castro, for instance, or praising Libya as a model of "participatory democracy." Chavez's planned Aug. 10 visit to Iraq appears linked to his desire to persuade poor nations to band together as a counterweight to what he sees as U.S. hegemony. Chavez became president in February 1999 seven years after staging a failed military coup. Shaking up the status quo has been his trademark quality. This week's trip to 10 oil-producing nations is part of Chavez's stated goal of strengthening the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries as a global force. Chavez plans to invite his Arab counterparts to a planned Sept. 27 OPEC heads of state summit in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas -the first summit of its kind since 1975. Venezuela, OPEC's only South American member, is the world's third largest petroleum exporter. Chavez's itinerary this week includes visits to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Iraq, Indonesia, Libya, Nigeria and Algeria. Yet it is his visit to Iraq that has raised the most eyebrows -a fact that has not been lost on Chavez, who told foreign reporters last week that he expected to be criticized for it. "Some say Saddam Hussein is the devil, but the devil is in hell," Chavez said, defending his decision to visit Iraq. "We're all sons of God." World leaders have abided by U.N. efforts, led by the United States and Britain, to isolate the Iraqi president, though calls to ease strict sanctions against Iraq have multiplied in recent years. Saddam is still considered a pariah in the Arab world for his invasion of Kuwait, and Arab leaders participated in the U.S. coalition that ousted him from Kuwaiti soil in the Gulf War. They do, however, sympathize with the plight of Iraqi civilians struggling under the U.N. sanctions, and with U.S. desires to remove Saddam from power unfulfilled for a decade, there has been talk of trying to reintegrate Iraq into the Arab fold. Though a first visit from an Arab leader would be considered a bigger coup for the Iraqi leader, Saddam could try to use the Venezuelan president's visit to show that the United States cannot isolate him forever. Chavez's critics say he has warmed ties with such internationally isolated nations as Iraq, Libya and Cuba at the expense of good relations with the United States, which is Venezuela's No. 1 trading partner and the biggest purchaser of its oil. Chavez has also faced criticism for refusing to allow U.S. anti-drug planes to fly over Venezuelan territory, and for rejecting some U.S. aid after last December's mudslides near Caracas that killed some 15,000 people. The Venezuelan president was a key factor behind soaring international oil prices. Since taking office, he has reversed Venezuela's long-standing role as OPEC's perennial quota buster. Venezuela was a leading proponent of OPEC production cuts as a way to bolster prices. Any perceived attempts by Chavez to politicize OPEC might be rejected in places like Saudi Arabia and other wealthy Gulf states, which have close relations with the United States. Mary Forero, spokeswoman at the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry, on Sunday said Chavez's visit to Iraq should not be cause for concern. "It's not extraordinary that Chavez is going to Iraq to converse with Saddam, because the success of the OPEC summit (in Caracas) depends on the attendance of the presidents of those countries," she said. Yet there's nothing ordinary about Chavez daring to go where no one else has gone before. Even the logistics of Chavez's trip to Baghdad are raising questions. The itinerary provided by the Foreign Ministry shows Chavez departing Iran on Aug. 10 and arriving in Iraq two hours later. The U.N. sanctions ban flights in and out of Iraq. Normally, the only legal entry route into Baghdad is a 10 -hour-plus drive from Amman, Jordan. Officials contacted in Caracas on Sunday said they did not know how Chavez and his entourage would get around such obstacles. --------------------------------------------------------------------<e|- Remember four years of good friends, bad clothes, explosive chemistry experiments. http://click.egroups.com/1/8013/6/_/790251/_/965593950/ --------------------------------------------------------------------|e>- ------------------------------------------------- *** Iraq Action Coalition Discussion Forum *** http://iraqaction.org/discussion.html ------------------------------------ *To Post a message, send it to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *To Subscribe, send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * To see the List Guidelines, go to: http://iraqaction.org/discussion.html *Any questions, contact the List Moderator at [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----------------------------------------------
