via Seattle Times
Venezuela offers asylum to Aristide
Venezuela’s strongly anti-American president yesterday offered asylum to former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, echoing allegations that Washington, D.C., "kidnapped" him into exile. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez also said he would not recognize the Haitian transition government being formed by Prime Minister Gerard Latortue. An official said none of the 11 of 13 Cabinet ministers chosen so far came from Aristide’s Lavalas Family Party. Chávez told a nationwide address yesterday that "the doors of Venezuela are open" to the former president, who resigned and fled Haiti on Feb. 29, spent two weeks in the Central African Republic and arrived Monday in Jamaica to reunite with his family. Chávez’s offer of asylum is certain to whet the already sharp edges in U.S. relations with the leftist populist Chávez, whose oil-rich nation is all but politically paralyzed by a drive to recall him.
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