Reuters Team scores Chavez interview at Venice film festival

A multi-media Reuters team snared a rare interview with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during a short visit to the Venice film festival to promote a documentary about him by Oliver Stone. Rivals had to pick up Chavez’s comments from Venezuelan state television. Asked if his democratic record was as good as Stone’s film suggested, Chavez rebuffed criticisms about closing down independent broadcasters and removing many of the powers of the mayor of Caracas, an opponent. He told Reuters his country would not go into recession, despite a sharp drop in the economy in Q2. Together with remarks that he was hopeful of being able to cooperate with Obama, Reuters delivered an informative insight into a leader reviled by many in the west. The story on Sept 8 was one of the top read on reuters.com for the week and an accompanying blog got strong responses from within Venezuela.