Chavez: Venezuela is no threat, Obama is a good guy Obama told a Spanish-language television station in an interview screened this week that Chavez's actions over recent years had not had a serious impact on the national security of the United States. It has all been a hoax by the imperialists and global far right: that uranium is being enriched in Venezuela, that we're setting up missiles here, that we're supporting terrorism. Whenever there were efforts to improve relations between Washington and Caracas, Chavez said, they were criticized by powerful "snipers" who issued threats in the U.S. media. Chavez, whose stridently anti-Washington politics are highly popular in his OPEC nation, has expanded ties with Iran while the United States and other nations have increased their pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program. Iran denies Western charges it wants to build nuclear weapons. When Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Caracas in January, he and Chavez lavished praise on each other, mocked U.S. disapproval and joked about having an atomic bomb. Late last year Obama told a Venezuelan newspaper the United States had no intention of intervening in Venezuela's foreign relations - but he believed the government's ties with Iran and Cuba had not benefited the Venezuelan people. With both Chavez and Obama running for re-election this year, Chavez struck a conciliatory tone, saying the latest comments by his U.S. counterpart needed to seen in context. Obama is campaigning. He's a candidate. I hope the real revolutionaries understand well. I think that Barack Obama - aside from 'the president' - is a good guy," he said. Chavez is trying to appeal to the third of Venezuelans who may not have decided yet who to vote for in the October 7 election, when he will seek a new six-year term despite undergoing three cancer operations in Cuba over the last year. That means being more moderate. Chavez also cited his friendship with Juan Manuel Santos, the conservative leader of neighboring Colombia, as proof of his benign influence on Latin American affairs. The president of Colombia has said it, twice: Chavez is a factor of stability for the region, a factor of peace, a facilitator of integration. That is Chavez's role. Obama's campaign team has accused Romney, the likely Republican nominee in the November 6 election, of playing into the Venezuelan president's hands by giving him the international attention he wanted. On Friday, Chavez said Obama's troubles began with that handshake. They fell on him: saying he's a socialist, a communist. ... The personal war against Obama started, including looking for a way to get him out of office by any means. Additional reporting by Diego Ore; editing by Mohammad Zargham and Todd Eastham