BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

02/07/2007

Venezuelan President Visits 'Brother' In Belarus

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on June 29 arrived in Minsk, where he met his Belarusian counterpart Alyaksandr Lukashenka and vowed to pursue joint economic projects to consolidate their ties, AP, Reuters, and Belapan reported. "There are few peoples in the world who endure such strong pressure from the empire as Belarus. In this struggle we are brothers," Chavez told Lukashenka in Minsk. "The enemy's forces are trying to turn the world into a unipolar world. We must overcome many obstacles from these forces. The empire that has called us dictatorships itself wants to create a world dictatorship," Chavez added. Both presidents reportedly praised the dynamic economic cooperation between their countries. "If in one year we were able to do so much, then what will be able to do in the 20 years that we will be in power?" Chavez asked. "Don't scare the Americans," Lukashenka responded with a smile. Chavez reportedly promised that his country will increase the import of Belarusian television sets, tractors, electronic equipment, and various machines. "In the future, we'll be able to jointly occupy considerable market niches in Latin America, satisfying the real demand of people for food, building materials, household appliances, medicines, and machine-building products," Chavez noted. JM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2007/07/3-cee/cee-020707.asp

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