"We are not making attempts to isolate Venezuela. That is impossible for the United States, given the energy and historic ties" between the two countries, said the US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Tom Shannon in an interview with El País published Friday, AFP reported.

"The showdown between Washington and Caracas is a Caracas thing. We are willing to talk to Venezuela, but the government of Venezuela has made this strategic decision not to talk," Shannon told the Spanish daily newspaper in Brussels, the second stop in his European tour, which he started Monday in Madrid.

The situation facing Cuba, the sale of Spanish military aircrafts to Venezuela -an operation Washington vetoed based on the fact that such planes comprise US parts- and the new political outlook in Bolivia were some of the topics Shannon addressed together with senior Spanish diplomats and officials. He also met with former president of the Spanish government Felipe González.

"Anti-Americanism is the central message of Chávez," Shannon asserted.
"We are concerned about Venezuela not because of popular political expressions, but because of the health conditions facing Venezuelan democratic institutions," Shannon added in an interview almost entirely devoted to Venezuela.

"We are interested in keeping relations with Venezuela. (But) Venezuela has isolated from US," the diplomat stressed.