Venezuela Analysis: Chavez and Foreign Minister Say US-Venezuela Relations Can Improve

Caracas, Venezuela, March 18, 2005—Yesterday Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez took the first step towards thawing tensions between the United States and Venezuela by announcing that Venezuela wants to improve relations between the two countries. “We want to continue to send 1.5 million barrels of oil to the United States on a daily basis and to continue doing business… and together contribute to development and peace in the entire world,” Chávez affirmed to journalists in the state of Lara.