Candidate for the Democratic Party running for US President Barack Obama called Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez an "easily led" threat for the US security and expressed willingness to approach Venezuela and Cuba if elected president.
 
In an interview released on Wednesday by Chilean daily newspaper El Mercurio, the Senator said that Mexico was his priority in Latin America and talked about his plans to make a proposal on a migration reform during his first year in office in case of winning the presidential election on November.

When queried if Chávez was a threat for the security of the United States and the hemisphere, Obama answered during the interview held in Denver, "Yes, I do think he is, yet a threat that can be managed," Reuters quoted.

"We know, for instance, that he could be involved in the support to the (Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces) FARC, harming his neighbor. This is not the kind of neighbors we want. I deem it important, through the Organization of American States (OAS) or the United Nations (UN) to start sanctions that say that such behavior is not acceptable," he added.