Hugo Chavez: I'd vote for Barack Obama Mr Chavez and Mr Obama shook hands at a 2009 summit, but relations have since cooled. The US Embassy in Caracas has been without an ambassador since July 2010, with Mr Chavez rejecting Washington's nominee for ambassador, Larry Palmer, and accusing him of making disrespectful remarks about Venezuela's government. That led Washington to revoke the visa of the Venezuelan ambassador to the US.