Venezuela rules out breaking relations with US

Venezuelan Vice Foreign Minister for North America, Maria Del Pilar Hernandez, said Friday her country has no interest in breaking relations with the United States despite tensions between them.

Venezuela is not interested in breaking relations with the North American country, but "we are not going to allow a disrespect of our sovereignty, laws and authorities," said Hernandez during an interview with the private news channel Globovision.

Hernandez did not rule out a dialogue between Caracas and Washington, saying one way to do it is through respect by the United States for the government of President Hugo Chavez.

"I look forward to the dialogue taking place to allow for an improvement of relations between the two nations," said the official.

She also renewed the demand that Washington extradite to Venezuela Luis Posada Carrilles, who was accused of blowing up a Cuban airliner in 1976.

Posada, 77, was born in Cuba and gained Venezuelan citizenship in 1960. He was sentenced to imprisonment in Venezuela on charges of involvement in the Cubana de Aviacion airliner bombing which killed 73 people in 1976. But he escaped from prison in 1985.

Posada illegally entered the United States last March and sought asylum there through his lawyer the next month. In mid-May, US authorities arrested Posada for having entered US territory illegally, but has refused to hand him over to Venezuela.

Venezuela and the United States have been locked in disputes since Chavez took office six years ago.

Chavez has accused US President George W. Bush of supporting the failed coup d'Etat in April 2002 which ousted him for 72 hours and also blasted the United States for supporting a plot to assassinate him. But Washington has denied the charges.

Source: Xinhua