BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

04/12/2007

Belarus`s Lukashenko To Talk Oil in Venezuela

Reuters

Lukashenko`s press service gave no exact date for the trip in response to two visits to Minsk in the last two years by Chavez.

Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, barred from Western countries for alleged human rights abuses, is to visit Venezuela soon for talks on oil with President Hugo Chavez, his ideological comrade.

Lukashenko's press service gave no exact date for the trip in response to two visits to Minsk in the last two years by Chavez, who hails the Belarussian leader as a "brother".

"We have common goals. Our views on the make-up of the world are the same. We adopt identical positions at the U.N. and in the Non-Aligned Movement," the press service quoted Lukashenko as telling a meeting of officials.

"Venezuela is alongside us on all issues. This is a strategic partnership."

Chavez, who narrowly lost a weekend referendum on expanding his powers, calls for a socialist order of states to offset what he sees as U.S. domination of international affairs.

Lukashenko rails against U.S. policy, especially plans to install an anti-missile system in eastern Europe, but has also quarrelled with its longstanding ally Russia over energy prices.

Accused of hounding protesters and stifling the press, he was also barred from the United States and European Union after charges that he rigged his re-election to a third term last year.

Lukashenko's foreign trips are generally confined to other ex-Soviet states, but also included this year a trip to Iran.

Belarus has agreed from this month to extract up to a million tonnes of oil in Venezuela with the intention of boosting that later to two million tonnes per year. It also hopes to provide farm and construction equipment and potash.

Source:

http://www.javno.com/en/economy/clanak.php?id=103860