U.S. advises Venezuelan leader

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Bush administration, which expressed no regret when the Venezuelan military ousted the country's elected president last week, advised Hugo Chavez on Sunday to make good use of a second chance to govern. \n"We do hope that Chavez recognizes that the whole world is watching and that he takes advantage of this opportunity to right his own ship, which has been moving, frankly, in the wrong direction for quite a long time," said Condoleezza Rice, President Bush's national security adviser. \nShe said Chavez "needs to respect constitutional processes" during this tumultuous period in Venezuela, the No. 3 supplier of oil to the United States and the world's fourth biggest exporter. \nChavez returned Sunday to the presidential palace in Caracas, the capital, after he was freed by his military captors. Two days earlier, army commanders had forced him from office. \n"I hope that Hugo Chavez takes the message that his people sent him, that his own policies are not working for the Venezuela people, that he's dealt with him in a high-handed fashion," Rice said on NBC's "Meet the Press." \nRice said she hopes Chavez "understands this is a time for national reflection, that he recognizes it's time for him to reflect on how Venezuela got to where it is." \nAt the time Chavez was ousted, the White House put the blame on Chavez because of attempts to violently put down a demonstration. Bush's spokesman said the Venezuelan government "suppressed what was a peaceful demonstration of the people…It led very quickly to a combustible situation in which Chavez resigned." \nBut Chavez's family, supporters and former government officials insisted he never resigned as president, as the interim president, Pedro Carmona, and Venezuela's high command claimed. \nChavez had befriended Cuban President Fidel Castro and turned up in Iraq and Libya -- all countries on the State Department list of state sponsors of terrorism. In February, Secretary of State Colin Powell said it was "strange" that Chavez would see fit to visit such countries. \nChavez also angered Washington with his strong opposition to the U.S. war in Afghanistan. \n"This is no time for a witch hunt," Rice said. "This is a time for national reconciliation in Venezuela"