Secretary Clinton and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez Meet At Summit

Wow. Everyone has been wondering what would happen if President Obama and/or Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ran into Hugo Chavez at the 5th Summit of the Americas:

In this photo released by Miraflores Press Office, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, right, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, left, speak during the 5th Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, Saturday April 18, 2009. (AP Photo/Miraflores Press Office, Marcelo Garcia)

President Obama and Hugo Chavez meet prior to the start of the Summit of the Americas:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (R) gives a book, 'The Open Viens of Latin America' of Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano to US President Barack Obama (L) during a multilateral meeting to begin during the Summit of the Americas at the Hyatt Regency in Port of Spain, Trinidad April 18, 2009. AFP PHOTO/Jim WATSON (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

Accounts of the interaction described it this way:

Obama walked across a hotel meeting room to meet Chavez for the first time, said a senior U.S. administration official who witnessed it and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the details of the event. The official said Obama initiated the encounter.

Chavez has been a fierce critic of the United States during President George W. Bush’s tenure.

“It was very, very short,” the official said of Friday’s meeting. “The president shook his hand, smiled and then went back to his position in the line.”

The encounter comes as Obama softens U.S. policy against Cuba, a Chavez ally.

Asked later about the meeting, Obama elicited laughter from reporters with a brief response: “I said, ‘ Como estas?’”

That’s the familiar form of Spanish for “How are you?”

Chavez was more forthcoming with reporters.

“We shook each other’s hands like gentlemen, and it was predictable this would happen,” Chavez said.

“We don’t have any complexes that would prevent us from extending our hands to each other. I’m grateful for his gesture.”

UPDATE: Chavez announced several hours ago at the Summit of the Americas, that he will restore the Venezuelan Ambassador to Washington. Apparently, he had several informal conversations with Secretary Clinton at the Summit.

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