BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

29/06/2007

Venezuela's Chavez, Belarus' Lukashenko declare solidarity

MINSK (AFP)

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his Belarussian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko vowed increased cooperation on Friday during a tour in which the Venezuelan leader has urged a global revolution against Washington.

"We have many obstacles and opponents, above all this empire that calls us dictators," Chavez said as he met Lukashenko in Minsk, referring to the United States.

"In the world there are few countries like Belarus on which they put so much pressure.... We bring with us our warmth and solidarity with Belarus," Chavez said.

Lukashenko in turn said that relations had "reached the level of a strategic partnership" and said numerous projects were under way in the trade, economic, scientific, technical and military spheres.

Lukashenko has been declared persona non grata in the European Union and the United States in retaliation for what Western governments say are his repressive policies.

His meeting with Chavez came during a tour by the Venezuelan leader that began in Russia and is to take him on to Iran.

The main theme of the tour has been spreading Chavez's fiercely anti-Washington message and shopping for weapons.

The flamboyant Venezuelan leader was to return to Russia for a second meeting with President Vladimir Putin on Saturday.

Russian state weapons exporter Rosoboronexport, already a major supplier to Venezuela, said Friday that a deal was under negotiation for the sale of five submarines.

Chavez told Russian parliament deputies he was interested in submarines "since America is constantly threatening us (and) we must defend our revolution," RIA Novosti news agency quoted parliament deputy Yelena Drapeko as saying.

Russia was also discussing possible sales of army and air force materiel, an official with Rosoboronexport, Innokenty Nalyotov, was quoted by Interfax as saying.

Chavez, a fierce foe of US President George W. Bush, has made a priority of modernising and expanding his oil-rich country's armed forces and last year bought significant numbers of aircraft and small arms from Russia.

Washington, which brands Chavez an undemocratic nationalist, has criticised Russia's sales of weapons to Venezuela and was likely to be irked by Putin's meeting with Chavez on the eve of talks between the Kremlin leader and Bush this weekend in Kennebunkport, Maine.

Chavez, an elected leftist with a populist style, says his arms buying spree is necessary to rebuild the country's outmoded armed forces and to protect against what he brands US imperialism.

In 2006 Venezuela signed more than three billion dollars in contracts with Russia to buy 53 Mi-24 armored helicopter gunships, 24 Sukhoi-30 fighter planes and 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles.

The submarine reportedly under negotiation is known in Russia as the Project 636 and in NATO classification as a Kilo Class vessel.

According to Rosoboronexport, the 73.8-metre (242-foot) submarine can dive to 300 metres (984-feet) and carries six torpedo tubes, with 18 torpedoes, and an anti-ship cruise missile system.

Ahead of his trip, Chavez said it was not Washington's business whether he bought weapons.

"They're making all this noise because Venezuela is going to buy some submarines, and I told them, 'Why not?'" Chavez said.

Analysts also say Chavez wants the subs to protect shipping lanes for key oil exports.

Source:

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=183221