Hugo Chávez Appoints Zelaya Chief Political Consultant for Petrocaribe

Former president Manuel Zelaya met for three hours yesterday with President Hugo Chávez at the Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela. The meeting began at 10:00 on Friday evening and concluded at approximately 1:00 this morning. Mr. Zelaya arrived by surprise in Caracas on Thursday. Following the meeting, both President Chávez and Mr. Zelaya spoke briefly with members of the media. Mr. Zelaya credited Mr. Chávez for helping to initiate the process of change in Honduras. "You inspired us" said Mr. Zelaya emotionally. "You have resisted for 10 years and you keep growing stronger. Changes do not come easy, it is hard work, but you are an example that it can be done; you inspire the revolution that we have begun in Honduras. He emphasized that his cause "is not lost". Meanwhile, Mr. Zelaya's daughter Hortensia "La Pichu" Zelaya, who accompanied her father, noted that she believed the movement toward socialism in South America "will continue to grow".

But the big news of the evening was the announcement by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolás Maduro that Mr. Zelaya has been appointed "chief political consultant for [Venezuela's] Petrocaribe for the process of strengthening the political independence and defense of popular democracy in Latin American and the Caribbean". The extensive title is an honorary one, which Mr. Maduro said will allow Mr. Zelaya to make "many more trips" abroad. Fourteen countries in the region belong to the Petrocaribe oil alliance. (3/6/10)