Chavez, Clinton shake hands, chat amid tensions

President Hugo Chavez and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton shook hands and chatted briefly Saturday in a rare cordial encounter amid a diplomatic dispute that has left Venezuela and the United States without ambassadors in each other’s capitals.

The handshake came as leaders were milling about at the inauguration of new Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. It was unclear what Chavez and Clinton discussed.

Both governments have shown firmly entrenched stances in the past week as the United States revoked the Venezuelan ambassador’s visa in response to Chavez’s refusal to accept the chosen U.S. envoy.

“They thought we were going to back down. Anything negative that happens will be the responsibility of the United States,” veteran Venezuelan diplomat Roy Chaderton told the Caracas-based television channel Telesur on Thursday.

Chaderton, a close Chavez ally and former foreign minister, said the Venezuelan government is “studying the case with sensitivity ... and will make the respective decisions.”

Chavez has skipped opportunities to respond during the past few days, saying nothing about the U.S. government’s decision to revoke the visa of his ambassador, Bernardo Alvarez. President Barack Obama’s administration took that step in response to Chavez’s rejection of Larry Palmer, who has been awaiting Senate confirmation.

It was unclear what concrete effects those actions could have on U.S.-Venezuela relations, or whether the encounter between Chavez and Clinton could help ease the tensions. Clinton did not respond to questions as she walked into a cocktail reception for Rousseff.