13/07/09

Ambassador Samuel Moncada speaks exclusively to Irish radio personality Pat Kenny.

During his official visit to Ireland, where he will spend the next few days, Ambassador of Venezuela to the United Kingdom and also to Ireland Samuel Moncada spoke exclusively in a radio interview with Irish radio personality Pat Kenny on the Irish Radio station RTE 1, on “Today with Pat Kenny”.

Today with Pat Kenny is a current affairs magazine and popular radio show in Ireland with the stories of the day, sharp analysis, in-depth features and consumer interest. During the radio interview Ambassador Moncada spoke to Pat Kenny about his life from being a history teacher to a radio personality in Venezuela and then heading the political campaign of Hugo Chavez in 1998 which led him to become Minister of Higher Education and then the Venezuelan Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Moncada spoke about U.S. and Venezuela relations and democracy in Venezuela and Latin America. “The American empire supported the coup in 2002 which we feel was really unfair. They went for the oil and the logistic interests as they are doing in Honduras at the moment. This is absolutely against the history of Latin America, which is a history of fighting for democracy. With Obama defending human rights, we feel that he is a very interesting man but prisoner of his own administration” said Ambassador Moncada, adding that “Hugo Chavez and Venezuela admire Obama.” Despite the fact that the Latin America of today consists of democratically elected presidents, there is still a constant flaw in terms of the media accepting these democratic processes. This remains as one of the biggest issues in Venezuela still. “In Venezuela 86% of the media is privately owned, and it is mostly against the government. They can say whatever they like about the government,” said Moncada.

The interview concluded with Ambassador Moncada speaking about future prospects between Venezuela and Ireland. “We want to have the best relations with Ireland. I myself and Venezuela in general admire Irish people because they have a proud and strong history of fighting against colonialism; and you are also very progressive in fighting human rights and attacking the usage of military force against innocent people,” said the Venezuelan Ambassador. Moncada urged the people of Ireland to support Venezuela and very importantly Honduras which is currently going through a coup d’etat. “I would like you the Irish people and the Irish government not just to support Venezuela but also to support the people of Honduras,” said Moncada as he greeted the audience.

Press Office Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in the United Kingdom