During a ceremony to launch a program on provision of heating oil for the poor and indigenous communities in the United States, President Hugo Chávez voiced interest in a cooperation energy agreement with the United States.

"I have not given up hope of making friends with a US president, governors, and mayors. We are not enemies of the United States. We are friends of the US people and want to find ways for cooperation," he reasoned.

However, he called his US counterpart George W. Bush "alcoholic; an insane guy having a complex, but he is dangerous because he is much powerful."
 
In his view, governments around the world, "instead of plotting invasion and aggression," should seat down and talk.