| Daily Press Briefing Tom Casey, Deputy Spokesman Washington, DC June 26, 2007 Daily Press Briefing Transcript (Venezuela) INDEX:
TRANSCRIPT: Excerpts from the Daily Press Briefing of June 26, 2007, pertaining to Western Hemisphere Affairs. full briefing
QUESTION: I submitted this earlier -- I mean, I don't know if it got to you yet. But Venezuela there's a nationalization program of all ages and several, largely U.S.-based firms, have bucked this and has decided to go -- basically they're not going to take the deal that Chavez has offered. Does this -- is that considered a commercial matter or does State have a view on this in terms of relations with Venezuela? MR. CASEY: Well, I'd refer you to the individual companies in terms of the specific decisions. Now you all know what the controlled detonation feels like in the briefing room -- there we go. I hope that wasn't a sign from anybody. (Laughter.) Well, in terms of the issue you're talking about, these are as I understand it individual business decisions that have been made. But the important point for us, and it's the point we've always stressed on this issue, is that while that Government of Venezuela, like any other government, has the right to make these kinds of decisions to change ownership rules or other kinds of regulations. The standard has always been that we want to see them meet their international commitments in terms of providing fair and just compensation in accordance with international standards for any property that does come under government ownership or otherwise changes hands as a result of this. | ||||||
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