From the Associated Press:
GW skipper extends hand to Venezuela ABOARD THE USS GEORGE WASHINGTON - The captain of a U.S. aircraft carrier leading a two-month deployment to the Caribbean said Venezuela, whose leader said the naval exercises were intended as a threat, was welcome to participate in an operation designed to strengthen ties with regional allies. Capt. Garry White of George Washington, a nearly 1,100-foot Nimitz-class carrier that was sailing roughly 150 miles north of the Caribbean island of Curacao on Saturday, said the exercises were intended to "promote peace and stability" in the region. "I hope that Venezuela will come out and participate with us," White said aboard the carrier. "But if they don't they're certainly welcome and we hope that we'll be able to have stronger ties with them and every other country in the region in the future." Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a fierce critic of Washington, has accused the U.S. military of trying to threaten the South American nation with the naval exercises. Cuban President Fidel Castro also has criticized the exercises, accusing the United States of trying to intimidate his country with the show of military strength. The U.S. military has dismissed the criticism, noting that it holds annual exercises in the region....