[Marxism] Venezuela's Chavez in Iran on anti-US tour

[Walter Lippmann]

(It's not an anti-US tour, it's a pro-Venezuela, pro-Bolivarian,
and anti-imperialist tour. It sure doesn't look like someone who
might be colluding with Washington, unless I'm mis-reading this.)
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Venezuela's Chavez in Iran on anti-US tour
By Hiedeh Farmani
Agence France Presse
July 1, 2007
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070701/wl_mideast_afp/iranvenezueladiplomacy_070701092000

TEHRAN - Venezuela's fiercely anti-American President Hugo Chavez
holds talks with his Iranian opposite number Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on
Sunday, on the last leg of a tour of nations at loggerheads with
Washington.

Chavez arrived in Tehran on Saturday for a two-day stay and was
meeting his "ideological brother" Ahmadinejad in Tehran, following
visits to Russia and Belarus.

Aside from their anti-American stance, the two countries enjoy warm
ties and cooperation in the energy sector, with Iran OPEC's second
largest crude producer and Venezuela also a major player in the
cartel.

Chavez, who is accompanied by his foreign, communication, energy,
industry and economy ministers, is expected to sign a number of
agreements including the construction of 7,000 houses, a
petrochemical plant and a vocational training centre in Venezuela.

Ahmadinejad toured Latin America in January in a bid to seek support
from the region's leftist leaders who share his scornful defiance of
the United States.

Venezuela's ambassador to Tehran, Arturo Anibal Gallegos Ramiraz,
told the official IRNA news agency that Chavez's visit was aimed at
bolstering cooperation in economic, industrial and political fields.

"Iran and Venezuela through exchanges of visits can prove that their
relations are at the best possible level," he said.

Chavez is the most vocal cheerleader in Latin America for Iran and
its nuclear programme, which is feared by the West to be a cover for
weapons development although Tehran insists it is purely peaceful in
nature.

His trip comes as Iran is being threatened with toughened UN Security
Council sanctions for its continued refusal to freeze uranium
enrichment, a process which makes nuclear fuel but can also be the
core of an atomic bomb.

The United States, which broke diplomatic ties with Iran in 1979, has
been spearheading the international campaign to stop Iran's
enrichment programme and it has never ruled out ruled out a military
option to halt the drive.

Venezuela and several other Latin American countries are members of
the Non-Aligned Movement that at a summit last year emphatically
backed Iran's right to nuclear energy.

Venezuela was alone in September 2005 in opposing a resolution at the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that found Iran in
violation of nuclear safeguards, paving the way for its referral to
the Security Council.

"Latin America offers good opportunities for cooperation. Common
political views and positions help us to have better cooperation,"
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said.

During his stay, Chavez is due to visit the land-based facilities of
Iran's South Pars gas field off the Gulf coast on Monday, local media
said.

Before heading to Iran, Chavez met Russian President Vladimir Putin
and Belarus counterpart Alexander Lukashenko and urged a global
revolution against Washington.

He has also discussed possible purchases of submarines and other
defence equipment from Russia, arguing that these are needed to
defend his oil-rich country against the United States.

Chavez said on his arrival in Tehran he might withdraw Venezuela's
application for full membership in Mercosur, South America's leading
trade bloc, in response to objections from Brazilian lawmakers.

Mercosur, comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile
and Bolivia as associate members, is known as the Common Market of
the South. It aims at bringing about the free movement of goods,
capital and services among its member states.

Earlier this month, Iran welcomed Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega,
a Cold War foe of the United States. Tehran has also boosted ties
with other countries which have frosty ties with Washington, notably
Belarus, whose president has been condemned by the European Union for
rights violations.


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WALTER LIPPMANN
Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
writer - photographer - activist
http://www.walterlippmann.com
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