They might be getting a little nervous in South America these days; as Vice President Dick Cheney inadvertently named Hugo Chavez as the leader of Peru in a speech today.
Chavez of course is the despot of the day in Venezuela, which just happens to be a few miles up the road and across the continent from Peru.
Chavez of course, has been busy smelling sulfur at the UN and shaking hands with that other international bad boy of the year Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
They are the twin poster boys for all that makes the US administration boil these days, and Cheney took time to express his thoughts on Chavez, as part of a forum called the World Affairs Council in Dallas.
Chuckling that diplomacy was hard, Cheney chose not to follow the advice of Mom, that being, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
From the official White House transcript Vice-President Cheney described his impressions of Hugo during a Question and Answer session with the audience.
Chavez of course is the despot of the day in Venezuela, which just happens to be a few miles up the road and across the continent from Peru.
Chavez of course, has been busy smelling sulfur at the UN and shaking hands with that other international bad boy of the year Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
They are the twin poster boys for all that makes the US administration boil these days, and Cheney took time to express his thoughts on Chavez, as part of a forum called the World Affairs Council in Dallas.
Chuckling that diplomacy was hard, Cheney chose not to follow the advice of Mom, that being, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
From the official White House transcript Vice-President Cheney described his impressions of Hugo during a Question and Answer session with the audience.
We have -- I'm trying to think how to state this diplomatically. (Laughter.) Diplomacy is hard sometimes. (Laughter.) We have refrained from making public pronouncements about Mr. Chavez -- I think for good and legitimate reasons. He's a -- obviously an individual with his own agenda, and he spends a great deal of his time worrying about us and criticizing the United States. My own personal view is that he does not represent the future of Latin America, and the people of Peru* I think deserve better in their leadership. But that's obviously a matter they've got to resolve for themselves.
(the * represents a clarification issued at the end of the statement)
Depending on how you interpret the term “future”, the folks in Peru may wish to keep their eyes on the skies for the next little while. While Mr. Cheney worries about Mr. Chavez's' ability to run Peru, Hugo will be busy polishing up his oratory skills back in Venezuela.
As for the Vice President, perhaps Santa can bring him an atlas this Christmas, it would seem that there is a need for a geographical review in the Vice President's Ceremonial Office.
.
Below: The Vice President's grasp of geography from the dais.
No comments:
Post a Comment