“Yesterday the devil was here. It smells of sulfur still,” Hugo Chavez said to the United Nations in 2006. This statement is one that best exemplifies Chavez’s strained relationship with the U.S. government.

Chavez opened his speech with a direct attack on the then-U.S. President George W. Bush, who had been on that same stage the day before.

As recently as just yesterday, the Venezuelan authorities expelled two U.S. militaries that allegedly participated in acts of conspiracy against the government.

Last month, the new Secretary of State in the United States, John Kerry, mentioned as one of his objectives to improve relations with

Venezuela.

On multiple occasions, Chavez expressed being against the U.S. government.

He associated with countries hostile to the United States such as Cuba and Iran.

Chavez said, on more than one occasion, that he had evidence that the United States had developed a plan to invade Venezuela. He also accused the United States of collaborating with the failed coup of 2002 and even spoke of a plot to assassinate him.

The United States continually denied the accusations of Chavez and his government.

Despite these tensions, the Venezuelan government has never stopped selling oil to the United States.

Big names in Hollywood did not hesitate to show their support for Chavez.

Filmmaker Oliver Stone portrayed him in the 2009 documentary “South of the border.” Since then, the director worked closely with the Bolivarian leader and recently said on that Chavez was improving the lives of Venezuelans, the same way President Barack Obama is doing in the United States.

Another famous American who showed public support for Chavez was actor Sean Penn, who said Chavez “is a fascinating man and did great things for 80 percent of the people of Venezuela.”

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The European Union and the United States have announced plans to complete a historic free trade agreement worth over 450 billion euros that could drag both from economic slumps.

Professor Stephen Davies of the London-based free-market think-tank Institute of Economic Affairs explains the impact.

Metro: Where did this come from?

Davies: The EU and US have been talking about this for years but things have suddenly accelerated for two reasons. On the European side there’s a desperate need to find anything that will stimulate growth in the Eurozone and this is estimated to grow GDP by 0.5%. On the US side, President Obama has been re-elected and is less worried about a backlash from protectionists.

How will this affect consumers?

Free trade reduces cost to consumers. It leads to a more efficient allocation of production and resources that’s why you get estimates of growth. Another benefit will be easier and simpler access to products from the other side of the Atlantic.

What will be the points of difficulty?

Agriculture will see the most discussion and argument but is also the area with potential for biggest gains. Both EU and US have highly protectionist agriculture regulations and there will be push-back from European farmers against US competition. Another point that could cause trouble is intellectual property rights, which have tax implications and a lot of money riding on them.

Is EU the weaker power?

It’s in worse shape but no one has the upper hand. The point of erasing trade barriers is that everybody benefits by getting rid of special interest blocs.

Is this a statement against rising Asian powers?

I really hope not. If the motives is to create a North Atlantic bloc to protect against challenges from China, India, Brazil that would be bad because their rise means more people to sell goods to.  But I think this is about the domestic need for something to stimulate the economy.

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