"It's unlikely that as a consequence of me shaking hands or having a polite conversation with Mr. Chavez that we are endangering the strategic interests of the United States," Obama said.
I agree despite the criticism surrounding the Obama-Chavez handshake. I think this in fact makes us look stronger. It shows a side of America that other countries have not seen before.
What are the arguments? Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, an anti-American dictator, should be shunned. Obama should have walked out. This makes America look weak.
Bush has also been photographed shaking hands with Chavez. The right aparently didn't have a problem with that.
Chavez has said “It’s a policy of permanent aggression, of war, of terrorism by the US empire. That’s the great guilty one, the great Satan.” He also referred to Bush as "the devil"
In light of the controversy, Chavez is showing that he is now willing to send an ambassador to the US. During the Bush administration Chavez turned a US ambassador away without a single word. Change?
