Chavez says US, Brazil free to discuss Venezuela

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez attends a Catholic mass in Caracas February 27, 2009. Chavez attended a mass to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the bloody "Caracazo" riots. REUTERS/Miraflores Palace/Handout (VENEZUELA).

By Ian James

March 5, 2009

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has given Brazil's president the green light to talk about Venezuela with President Barack Obama.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva plans to meet Obama on March 14 in Washington, and Chavez said the Brazilian leader told him by phone that "he would like to talk with the president of the United States about the case of Venezuela."

U.S.-Venezuelan relations remain prickly despite the change of administrations in Washington, while Brazil's left-leaning president has maintained friendly relations both with the U.S. and the socialist Chavez.

"We don't need any intermediary to speak with any government on the planet, but since it's Lula and in good faith, I told him yes, that I gave him the green light," Chavez said Thursday in a televised speech, addressing troops...

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