Venezuela
The Bush administration has been particularly critical of the leadership of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, and brands the country an "outlaw country in the drug war." During Rice's confirmation hearings, she commented on Chávez: "We are very concerned about a democratically elected leader who governs in an illiberal way, and some of the steps he's taken against the media, against the opposition, I think are really very deeply troubling."
Venezuela actively campaigned for a non-permanent seat in the 2006 United Nations Security Council election. Rice, however, directed a global lobbying campaign by US envoys in foreign capitals, contending that Venezuela did not belong on the Security Council. On November 1, after 47 rounds of deadlocked voting, Panama was selected as a compromise.
On February 7, 2007, Ms. Rice declared that she believed Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez "was destroying his country economically and politically". to which Chávez later replied that Rice "is an illiterate in need of a husband".
Read more about this topic: Condoleezza Rice's Tenure As Secretary Of State