Venezuelan Oil Weapon Elicits Rumsfeld Fears & Fantasies

“I could easily order the closing of the refineries that we have in the United States. I could easily sell the oil that we sell to the United States to other countries in the world ... (to) real friends and allies like China, India or Europe.”

Hugo Chavez.

Natalie Obiko Pearson, “Venezuela’s Chavez Threatens U.S. on Oil,” AP, 2/07/06.

Jonathan Salant: How concerned are you about political trends in South America? Do we face a new wave of left-wing, anti-American regimes?

Donald Rumsfeld: Oh, I don't know that I'd characterize it that way. I am concerned. I was very grateful that the CAFTA passed, the free trade agreement for Central America. I was disturbed that it was only by one vote. I think that protectionism is an unhealthy impulse for our country. I think that the countries of Central America right now are leaning forward very much. They want to cooperate politically and economically and from a military standpoint. And we should be encouraging that and trying to assist. I think the characterization of what's happening in Latin America as anti-American is probably -- it misses the mark in this sense: we saw dictatorships there. And then we saw most of those countries with the exception of Cuba, for the most part, move towards democracy. We also saw corruption in that part of the world, and corruption is something that is corrosive of democracy. If you think about it, free people elect people, and they then see a system that has corruption. And it's disturbing to them. And as a result, we've seen some populist leadership appealing to masses of people in those countries, and elections like Evo Morales in Bolivia take place that clearly are worrisome. I mean, it -- you've got Chavez in Venezuela with a lot of oil money. He's a person who was elected legally just as Adolf Hitler was elected legally and then consolidated power and now is, of course, working with Fidel Castro and Mr. Morales and others. It concerns me.

I think that people -- the natural state of people is to want to be free. And so any system that is not a free system -- political and economic free system -- I think is unlikely to give them the kinds of opportunities that they can have in a free system.

Donald Rumsfeld, remarks at the National Press Club, February 2, 2006.