Venezuela and the U.S. - see if ya can figger out THIS one

.....

(from the nyt...)

first, let's set the stage...

Government officials from the United States and this country are intensifying their verbal sparring after Venezuelan customs authorities this week seized diplomatic baggage from the United States that contained military hardware.

[...]

The cargo, delivered by a C-17 military transport plane, included ejector seats apparently intended for Venezuelan combat jets, explosive charges and about 180 pounds of chicken that did not pass through sanitary inspection, Interior Minister Jesse Chacón Escamillo said Friday night.

ok... got all that...? now, let's see what the u.s. had to say...

Brian Penn, a spokesman for the American Embassy here, told local news media this week that the diplomatic bags seized Thursday contained replacement parts for ejector seats for the Venezuelan military.

well, that seems to support the above account, right...? that is, until you get to the next paragraph...

Officials from the American Embassy were not immediately available for comment on Saturday.

hmmmmm... then, in the very NEXT paragraph, we have this...

Edgar Vasquez, a State Department spokesman in Washington, told The Associated Press on Friday that the United States had requested an “immediate explanation of the entire incident,” claiming the search violated international treaties on diplomatic baggage. “The impounded cargo consisted of household effects of a U.S. diplomat and a shipment of commissary goods,” Mr. Vasquez said.

< scratches head > so, do you feel like you have a handle on what REALLY happened...? good... neither do i, and my con-fooz-ed-ness is only exacerbated by the concluding paragraph...

“It’s time for maturity in Venezuelan diplomacy in its affirmation of its rights,” Julio César Piñeda, a retired Venezuelan diplomat, said in commentary published Saturday in the newspaper El Universal, “or for the elimination of its flaws and the absence of professionalism.”

yeah, well, maybe venezuelan diplomacy could use a little more maturity, but it looks to me like the u.s. version could use, um, lessee, maybe a bit more consistency...? transparency...? truth...? all the above...? or is what we're really talking about a better editor at the nyt...?

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