"Venezuela is Now Accused of Being an Imperialist Nation!"
Counterpunch - Translation by Lawrence Pirela

President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez Good afternoon (said in English).

Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone So here we start, and I would like to get the first question from radio and television, after that maybe the domestic press and after that the press and media of Venezuela. Is there someone here from radio or television? Please state your name and the organizations that you represent and wait for the microphone.

Reporter from CNN President, you have come to this country and you have not been invited to Downing Street. Is the reason that you have not met with Tony Blair because you did not want to meet with him or he did not want to meet with you? What is the current situation? How do you think that you will take advantage of your power as an oil-producing country to influence the foreign policy of other countries?

Presidente Chavez From which media?

Attendees CNN

Presidente Chavez Ah! My esteemed friends from CNN. Alright, thank you for your question, eh!

It has been a matter of speculation at a global level, the simple fact, simple and that everyone understands, of my private visit to London, thanks to the invitation of Mayor Livingstone, and a group of labor unions, as you know, and a significant number of Members of Parliament from the Labour Party, and many friends that we have here in Great Britain.

Then last night, see, I read the main stories of the world press, and in a very large percentage of them it was repeated, with very little creativity, an article that without doubt pretends to manipulate, pretends to diminish the importance that this meeting in London has, starting with the human aspect of it.

We have come to give thanks to the Mayor for his support, to the Members of Parliament from Labour for their support, to the labor unions for their support for the Bolivarian Revolution; and also to give my regards to the British people, to meet with business leaders; this afternoon we will have some good meetings with business leaders; there are some very important British investments in Venezuela, as you should know: Venezuela is today an ideal country to invest in, to continue investing in and to strengthen our mutual relations.

Finally, this is a new approach to Great Britain, to its history, to the 200-year relationship that we have, from the time that General Miranda and Bolivar where here.

So then, there has been an effort to manipulate something that is so obvious that I do not know how you forgive me, I can see that you are an experienced journalist, and that you would ask this, something so silly, I am not calling you silly, but the question is silly.

Attendees (laughter)

Presidente Chavez It's as if I were to go I am going to give you an example, as if I were to go to Madrid, any, any person that were to go to Madrid to visit some family, and he were asked, I don't know, why he did not visit the palace, the King Juan Carlos. I came here as a private visit, you must know, especially those of you who move in these circles, that there are several levels of visits. There are State visits. There has been talk that I did not visit the Queen, I give my regards for the Queen, my respect and affection for the Queen; I will never forget the meeting I had with her, very kind. That I did not visit the Prime Minister, I give my regards to the Prime Minister. Now, I did not come for that, simply put, thus the stupidity of the idea, I came in a private visit and you all know that: I did not come as part of a State visit, nor did I come in an official visit, nor even a work visit; there are three levels of visits, as you should know, and whoever does not know it look it up in the manuals of protocol of the world, in all the world there is a protocol in the relations between governments and states, eh! This is why I say that it is stupid the idea that has been manipulated I don't know in how many newspapers, on the first page, and main stories on television, trying to diminish this very affectionate visit, so joyful, this very important meeting here today in London. Do you understand?

Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone I can see that we are both on the same wavelength.

Is there another? From Reuters or DPA, or from another outlet? Please wait for the microphone, with Reuters or DPA.

Reporter from DPA Mr. President, is the government of Venezuela disposed to cut the flow of oil to the United States in the case that the United States attacks Iran? And my second question is: do you want to have a gas monopoly with Venezuela, Bolivia, and Peru? And another question, you spoke a lot last night

President Chavez Right there is another idea that has been used and that one finds everywhere. Venezuela is now accused of being an imperialist nation. There would be now an imperialist Chavez who is going around monopolizing and who is using oil to dominate other countries; I have no doubt that this is a story line manufactured in Washington, a story that is sent all around the world so that it is repeated by journalists, analysts, and political leaders. No? This morning, a political leader from an opposition party in America Latina was saying: "Chavez is promoting a policy of domination"; I am now the empire. How absurd!

First of all, we are putting forward an international policy of respect for the sovereignty of states, of the people, and also opening channels to establish a new mechanism for integration, based on solidarity, above all solidarity; based on true cooperation, on economic complementation, with respect for institutions, for international law, which is what is not recognized in Washington: how they violate international law, how they dominate, how they commit aggression against the world from Washington! That is were the real empire is, and now they want to accuse Venezuelans as imperialists or of launching strategies of domination, or monopolies. Monopoly us? We are fighting against monopolies, we are fighting against imperialism.

They pretend to twist the truth, and not only twist it, but invert it. They will not be able to do it, they will not be able to do it because we know, as it is happening here in London, here in Great Britain, how much support we receive in the streets, the youth, the students, labor unions, members of parliament, mayors, like Mayor Livingstone: despite all the lies about us that circulate in Great Britain, the "tyrant" Chavez, the "dictator" Chavez, the "oppressor" Chavez, and even so the people know that those are lies. We do not have any plan to monopolize gas; we are only designing plans of integration just like in Europe. The European Union started with the integration of iron and coal; likewise we are proposing to South America, especially South America, using the great reserves of gas that Venezuela has, 150 trillion cubic feet, verified, and that will likely be doubled in the next few years; which is the largest reserve of gas in the whole American continent, and one of the largest in the world.

Venezuelan oil, we have the largest reserve of oil in the whole world, more than 300 thousand million barrels of oil there, verified reserves, and this we want to share with the people of the world; so that it doesn't just benefit an elite in Venezuela or other parts of the world. And now we have proposed to South America, and we are working hard and fast with Lula and Kirchner in particular, and now with Evo, on the plan of the Great Gasoduct of the South. We invite British and European investors to look at this project with interest, it will be a great gas pipeline 8 thousand kilometers long, to ensure a gas network from the Caribbean to Patagonia, to guarantee cheap, clean, and low cost energy to all the countries and people of South America; energy for at least 150 years; this is our project, this is a project of social liberation to promote, well, the fight against poverty and a sustainable and integral development.

You ask me about oil and the relation, or better said the situation, the threat against Iran.

I believe that the world needs to do everything possible to avoid the madness that would be a military attack against Iran, the results of which are unforeseen. From here. we call upon the government of the United States to halt its warmongering, which intends to throw the world into an abyss of more wars, more terrorism, more death, and more desolation. I believe that Europe has a very important role to play in this, and instead of supporting this bent for war, it should help to halt it, Europe has the power to do it, the world has the power to do it.

You ask me if Venezuela would suspend oil exports to the United States in case of an attack against Iran. I cannot answer that question because that would depend on the circumstances.

I have said that we do not want to suspend oil delivery to any country of the world, because we are people that act responsibly: despite the aggressions by the American empire against us, we have never stopped delivering a million and a half barrels of oil per day to the people of the United States, to the economy of the United States; we have over there a large company which is Citgo, that refines 2 million barrels of crude and has 14 thousand gasoline stations where we provide gasoline to the people of the United States, this is a responsibility and we want to continue to meet this responsibility.

I have said that if the United States were to launch a military attack against Venezuela, then they can forget about Venezuelan oil, this is the same thing that Iran has said, Iran said that if there is aggression against them, the world can forget about their oil.

Now, I am going to tell you something, given the rising price of oil, if there were an attack against Iran, the price of oil is now around 70 dollars per barrel, well, the price could rise above 100 dollars per barrel! And Londoners, instead of paying I don't know how much is being paid for a gallon of gasoline, this would possibly double, and in all of Europe and the world.

In addition, in addition that we would come to a situation of greater world destabilization, this is why we have to avoid a new military aggression by the United States against anyone, we want peace and respect for international law.

Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone Please, one more question. Wait for the microphone. This is only for you, they see me every week.