June 19
Chávez threatens to stop oil sales to Europe
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez lamented a set of rules approved by the European Union (EU) to expel illegal immigrants and threatened to stop sending crude oil to European countries that implement the law.

"Our oil will not go to any countries which apply this affront," said the head of state during a ceremony to review Venezuelan-Paraguayan cooperation agreements. He recommended the rest of the presidents in the hemisphere following suit, no matter if they are leftists or rightists.

Then, he suggested that in the same way that Europe decides to return Latin American illegal immigrants to their countries of origin, Latin American countries could also decide on the return of European investments. "Here (in Venezuela), we do not need them. We are going to review their investments here, so we can also apply a return directive. Take your investments back to your countries!"

June 20
Solana: "Chávez's threat on the EU is 'totally out of proportion'"
European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Javier Solana called in Brussels "totally disproportionate" Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's threat not to send more oil to European countries in the event of implementing a law on expulsion of illegal aliens.

"In my view, it is totally out of proportion," said EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) in reference to Chávez's reaction to the adoption on Wednesday by the Europarliament of a directive on the return of illegal immigrants, AFP quoted.

"At least our oil should not be exported to European countries" applying the new EU law, said Chávez

However, it seems that some European senior officials were not very impressed by the threat.

"As it is well known, there is the paradox that Venezuela mostly supplies oil to the United States. Therefore, should they decide to block the supply to us, this would not represent a big change for us," said Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel Schwarzenberg.

EU: Chávez misunderstood migration law
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez seems to have misunderstood a new European Union migration law, EU leaders said after the head of the oil-rich nation threatened to stop selling them oil, reported Reuters.

The 27-nation bloc agreed this week that illegal immigrants can be detained for up to 18 months and face a re-entry ban of up to five years.

On June 19, Chavez said the rules were "shameful" and said he might cancel investments in the South American country made by European countries that enact them as well as stop their oil shipments.

Zapatero to explain law to Chávez
Spain's prime minister said Madrid was prepared to explain the new law "so that the EU's relationship with all Latin American countries remains positive."

"Maybe we need to explain exactly to the president of Venezuela what this directive consists of," Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said at a two-day EU summit.

"There have been many interpretations of this directive... that have nothing to do with what it really is," he said.

Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, whose country holds the EU presidency, said Chavez's threat of withholding oil exports was "perhaps exaggerated and perhaps not really understanding" of what the new laws meant.