Motives of U.S., Chávez questioned
Martín Méndez sees nothing political in the mountain of fertilizer bags stacked in a sweltering warehouse here. Any farmer with the money, he says, can buy a 110-pound sack for $16, about 20 percent below market price. ”We don’t ask them what party they belong to, and we don’t tell them who to vote for,” Méndez said of the bags, part of a 20,000-ton shipment from Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, a socialist and U.S. critic. “This is simply another international aid program to help small farmers.” Full Story