New beginning for US-Venezuela ties

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Source: CCTV.com | 04-19-2009 14:50

US President Barack Obama has offered a fresh start for US-Latin American relations at the Summit of the Americas. And he's won early approval from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a fiery critic of Washington.

Venezuelan Presidency Press Office-issued photo shows US President Barack Obama (left) and his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez shaking hands before the opening of the 5th Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain,  Trinidad, on April 17. (AFP/HO/Prensa Miraflores)

This is what Hugo Chavez calls a "friendly encounter". At Barack Obama's first Summit of the Americas, he and the Venezuelan President are reaching out.

And earlier on Saturday, Chavez gave Obama a book on US and European economic and political interference in Latin America.

This all signals a new beginning of US-Venezuela relations.