Another aspect of President Hipolito Mejia’s controversial interview with Univision’s Jorge Ramos (see yesterday’s DR1 news) was his comment about Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Mejia said that if Chavez was afraid, he should not visit Santo Domingo. This was a reference to the allegations by Chavez that the Dominican authorities were complicit in an assassination plot against him by leaders of the Venezuelan opposition in exile. The timing of the TV interview is particularly unfortunate, seeing as the last couple of weeks have witnessed an improvement in relations with Venezuela, which had suspended fuel exports to the Dominican Republic as a result of the rift. It is hoped that Venezuela will resume exports soon, and a damage mitigation exercise appears to be underway, with the Dominican embassy in Caracas trying to play down the significance of the President’s comments. According to these representatives, the interview was recorded one month ago – before the dispute was resolved – and that the comments could be misinterpreted if taken out of context.