Washington shows no interest in Chavez Gitmo offer

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Washington expressed no interest Thursday in an offer by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to take in any of the 240 remaining Guantanamo detainees after they are released from the US military prison. Chavez said he would have "no problem" accepting any of the remaining detainees in Venezuela. In an interview with Arabic-language Al-Jazeera news network during his trip this week to this Persian Gulf country, Chavez also urged President Barack Obama to free the remaining detainees and return the surrounding US Navy base to Cuba. But the State Department said in a statement that "the United States has not received a formal offer through diplomatic channels to resettle detainees to Venezuela and is not contemplating resettling detainees to Venezuela." Chavez has frequently criticized the U.S. military prison, but the socialist leader also has praised Obama's pledge to close it within a year. As for the detainees, Chavez said "we would have no problem in receiving a human being."