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ASNE delegation meets privately with President Hugo Chávez during six-day fact-finding trip to Venezuela
- By: ASNE staff
- On: 05/20/2008 17:22:00
- In: ASNE business
An American Society of Newspaper Editors delegation spent nearly two hours in a private session with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez at Miraflores Palace during a fact-finding trip to the Latin American country.
The session occurred as the editors concluded a six-day trip to Venezuela
An American Society of Newspaper Editors delegation spent nearly two hours in a private session with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez at Miraflores Palace during a fact-finding trip to the Latin American country.
The session occurred as the editors concluded a six-day trip to Venezuela and immediately following a nearly three-hour press conference in which the president denounced international police agency Interpol's endorsement of the authenticity of computer files implicating Venezuela in aiding Columbian guerillas.
Chávez spoke about his preference for the U.S. presidential election, future relations with the United States, his kinship with Cuba's Fidel Castro, supplying oil to the U.S., free speech, what he might do if he leaves office in 2013 and his worries about a U.S. invasion of his country.
During the trip, which began on Sunday, May 11 and ended on Friday, May 16, the editors also visited with U.S. Ambassador Patrick Duddy, members of the opposition, government officials, media executives and business leaders. They also spent a day at one of the Barrio Adentros which are a part of Chávez's social welfare program that provides free health and dental care for poor Venezuelans, and attended a performance by the country's renowned youth orchestra.
The Venzuelan trip was arranged in consultation with government and nongovernment organizations in an effort to assure the group received a variety of views on Venezuela's politics, economy and culture. ASNE does not take positions on issues of the countries it visits. Rather, members return to their newsrooms with a richer understanding that enhances their ability to supervise news coverage.
Martin Baron, editor of The Boston Globe and a member of the 19-member ASNE delegation, shared his impressions of the meeting with Chávez in his paper on Sunday:
“While Chávez calls his vision ‘21st –Century socialism' to the opposition it looks increasingly like nothing more than old, Castro-style communism. When Chávez met with American editors in his study in the presidential palace of Miraflores, family photos behind him and speaking through an interpreter, he seemed pleased to show a kinder, gentler, more diplomatic ‘comandante.'”
The delegation was led by ASNE President Charlotte Hall, executive editor of the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel, and 2007 International Chair Neil Brown, executive editor of the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times.
Other members of the delegation were: Gilbert Bailon, editorial page editor, St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Edward Seaton, editor-in-chief, The Manhattan (Kan.) Mercury; Milton Coleman, deputy managing editor, The Washington Post; Martin Baron, editor, The Boston Globe; Frank Martin, editor, publisher and president, West Plains (Mo.) Daily Quill; Geri Ferrara, editor, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.; Bob Hall, spouse, Winter Park, Fla.; Ed Jones, editor, The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va.; Troy Turner, editor, The Daily Times, Farmington, N.M.; Kevin Goldberg, special counsel, Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth, Washington; Margaret Sullivan, editor, The Buffalo (N.Y.) News; Carrol Dadisman, retired member, Tallahassee, Fla.; Mildred Dadisman, spouse, Tallahassee, Fla.; Don Carter, retired member, Sea Island, Ga.; J. Scott Bosley, executive director, ASNE, Reston, Va.; Cristal Williams Chancellor, project director, ASNE, Reston, Va.; and David C. Adams, Latin American correspondent, St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times.
After his meeting with the delegation on Thursday, Chávez boarded a plane to Lima, Peru for a summit of European, Latin American and Caribbean leaders.
ASNE fact-finding visits are designed to give editors an opportunity to see up close countries of current news value. In recent years, similar ASNE missions have visited Cuba, China and Mexico.
ASNE is the leading organization of directing editors of newspapers in the United States.
Contact: Cristal Williams Chancellor, ASNE project director, cwilliams@asne.org or 703-453-1138.