Cheney Switches From Scowls to Smiles

By Peter Baker

Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, May 6, 2006; Page A13

A day after scolding Russia for retreating on democracy, Vice President Cheney flew to oil-rich Kazakhstan yesterday and lavished praise on the autocratic leader of a former Soviet republic where opposition parties have been banned, newspapers shut down and advocacy groups intimidated.

Cheney's Kazakhstan Trip Focuses
On Future U.S. Oil Investments

By JOHN D. MCKINNON
May 6, 2006; Page A4

ASTANA, Kazakhstan -- A day after criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin for political repression, Vice President Dick Cheney held a series of friendly meetings with the autocratic leader of Kazakhstan to discuss future U.S. investment in developing its huge oil resources.

The meetings in Kazakhstan's glittering new capital, Astana, underscored just how much oil -- and access to it -- matter in the current global economy.

Thursday, at a conference of fledgling Eastern European democracies in Lithuania, the vice president blasted Russia for its political shortcomings, saying Mr. Putin's government has "unfairly and improperly restricted the rights of the people" and used its control over energy to "intimidate or blackmail" neighboring democracies. Friday, in oil-rich Kazakhstan, where the U.S. has become the biggest source of investment, Mr. Cheney lauded that country's political progress, although its record on free elections, while improving, falls short of international standards, and its 65-year-old president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, has held office since it declared itself independent in 1991.