BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

29/06/2007

Chavez arrives in Minsk

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on June 28 arrived in Minsk, Belarus, from Moscow, for an official visit.

Belarus is the second country Chavez is visiting as part of a tour taking him to Russia and then to Iran.

The Venezuelan ruler is scheduled to meet with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, official sources said.

On June 30, Chavez is scheduled to visit Rostov on Don (1,200 km south Moscow), where he is watching a horse race and visiting a plant manufacturing helicopters, sources with the Venezuelan delegation told AFP.

This is Chavez' second visit to Minsk in less than one year. In July 2006, he initialed a number of economic cooperation agreements in Belarus.

The Venezuelan government is engaged in negotiations to buy five Russian diesel submarines, said an official with Russian state weapons exports agency Rosoboronexport.

Source:

http://www.eluniversal.com/2007/06/29/en_pol_art_chavez-arrives-in-mi_29A892027.shtml