When Prince George’s officials were drafting their invitation list for an economic summit, the Venezuelan Embassy made the cut, in contrast to Montgomery Executive Ike Leggett’s recent declaration that his county didn’t need Venezuela’s help.
Prince George’s officials said they invited representatives from Venezuela’s Embassy because they invited leaders from all Latin American and Caribbean Basin embassies to the international business conference that starts Sunday. This is the county’s second annual International Economic Summit, in which area companies will learn the ins and outs of going global. Last year’s event focused on trade and investment with Asian countries.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has been a controversial figure, in part due to his close association with Cuban leader Fidel Castro and for calling President George W. Bush “the devil” during a speech before the United Nations last year. He has also offered discounted heating oil from his oil-rich country to the poor in the United States.
Prince George’s County spokeswoman Denise Roberts said the Venezuelan Embassy had declined to send a representative to the event, but the county stood by its decision to extend the invitation.
“We invite everybody,” Roberts said. “We are open to everyone; it is their decision about whether or not they can attend.”
Last week, Montgomery County Council Member Marc Elrich pulled the plug on efforts to arrange meetings between Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez and county leaders about the possibility of the country helping with Montgomery community programs. Leggett weighed in on the controversy while on a county economic development trip in Israel, saying, according to Leggett spokesman Patrick Lacefield, that the county could “take care of its own business.”
Elrich told The Examiner he is always in favor of dialogue, even when it is with groups that have opinions different from his own.
Lacefield said the county was not opposed to work between foreign entities and county groups, but local leaders want it to be in line with county goals.
“We want it to have something to do with our interests, not just public relations or political motivations,” Lacefield said. “I don’t think inserting the Venezuelan government and Hugo Chavez into Montgomery County will move the ball forward.”
Manny Hidalgo, executive director of the Latino Economic Development Corporation, said he thought the Prince George’s and Montgomery county decisions were dissimilar.
“It’s apples and oranges to me,” Hidalgo said. “One is just one country wanting to sit down and doing a specific partnership with a county, the other is just being part of a summit with many countries. These are completely different levels of partnership.”
