The president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Hugo Chávez stated over the weekend that the U.S. diplomat nominated to be the Ambassador to Venezuela, Larry Palmer, disqualified himself from the post after he made disrespectful statements about Venezuela.

“Palmer disqualified himself as ambassador. He disqualified himself by breaking all the norms of diplomacy by attacking us, and even the Armed Forces,” said the Venezuelan president during his weekly TV and radio show Aló Presidente

Chávez requested his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama withdraw Palmer’s nomination as U.S. ambassador to Venezuela.

The Venezuelan leader added, “The best thing that the U.S. government can do is to seek another nominee to be considered, but we cannot receive him [Palmer]; it’s impossible for us to do so and the first to understand this has to be the U.S. government.”

Presidential Press Office/Press and Communications Office of the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the U.S./August 8, 2010