New video of a behind-the-scenes meeting between Barack Obama and Hugo Chavez has surfaced. While there's no audio, it does provide a bit of a contrast with the still images we've seen and the little official video we've seen.
This is actually a pretty interesting development, considering that the video shows a much more serious conversation than what we've seen.
Video and more, after the jump.
First of all, I'd like to point out that this tip-off comes via a Tweet by Jake Tapper (@jaketapper).
The video is being hosted by the Spanish Language Noticias24, who reports, (in original Spanish):
El canal del Estado, Venezolana de Televisión, transmitió en exclusivo las imágenes del último encuentro del presidente Hugo Chávez con el presidente de Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, luego de finalizar la Ceremonia de Clausura de la V Cumbre de las Américas.
El presidente Obama se le acercó al presidente Chávez y se despidió exclamando "Adiós, mi amigo".
I apologize as I haven't taken Spanish in years and years, so I can provide you with a paraphrased Babelfished translation. If anyone wants to provide a more precise one, please feel free.
The Venezuelan State Television channel broadcast exclusive images of the last meeting between Hugo Chavez and the President of the United States, Barack Obama, after the Closing of Ceremonies of the Summit of the Americas.
President Obama approached President Chavez. Before leaving, Chavez said "Adios, mi amigo." (Goodbye, my friend.) (Emphasis added.)
So here's the video, and again, my Spanish is very rusty and the reporter is speaking very quickly (to my ears, anyway), so I can't quite get a sense for what she's saying. If anyone wants to come up with a transcript, I'd be grateful.
So we know now that Obama really had a serious discussion with President Chavez, and from the video, it looked like Chavez was willing to engage him. Imagine that.
Update I:
Kossack litho helpfully has provided a general translation of the words spoken by the anchor:
She really doesn't say that much... basically giving background on the previous meetings between Chavez and Obama, the handshake (and its worldwide diffusion through the photos), and the gift of the Galeano book. At about 1:40 she starts talking about "cordiality and confidence," and Obama's promise to "not interfere in the internal affairs of the countries of the hemisphere." The clip cuts off in the middle of her last sentence, which seems to be the most important one. She starts saying
Everyone is confident that these encounters that have taken place here, the meeting between Barack Obama and Uno Sur, with the SICA (the alliance of Central American countries), and with the CARICOM...
It'd be nice to know how that sentence ends, though I guess it's not that hard to imagine.