[R-G] Venezuela and Belarus Strengthen Strategic Alliance

[Anthony Fenton]

Venezuela and Belarus Strengthen Strategic Alliance
December 9th 2007, by Chris Carlson - Venezuelanalysis.com
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/2979

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez together with President of Belarus  
Alexander Lukashenko in the presidential palace (Presna Presidencial)
Mérida, December 9, 2007 (venezuelanalysis.com) - President of  
Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, made an official visit to Venezuela  
this weekend, where he signed several biliateral agreements to  
provide Venezuela with industry and technology from Belarus and the  
two countries formed a joint company to extract oil from Venezuela's  
Orinoco River Delta.

"For us there are no limits to cooperation between our countries,"  
said Lukashenko from the Orinoco on Saturday. "We have made  
agreements that we are going to strengthen by all means to construct  
a multi-polar world."

The two leaders traveled to the Orinoco on Saturday to inaugurate a  
joint company for exploitation of the heavy crude oil located there.  
The company will belong 60 percent to the Venezuelan Petroleum  
Corporation (CVP) and 40 percent to Belorusneft of Belarus and will  
exploit oil deposits in the eastern state of Anzoategui, as well as  
in the western state of Zulia.

But beyond the agreement for the exploitation of oil, Belarus and  
Venezuela also signed several agreements for the creation of  
industries with technology from Belarus. The two countries plan on  
creating three factories in the next few years: one to produce heavy- 
duty trucks for mining (Venbelas), another to build tractors, and a  
third for the construction of auto chassis and bodies.

"We are ready to share our development with you," said Lukashenko,  
who promised that within two or three years the two nations would  
create more joint companies to transfer technology to Venezuela.

Communications Minister Willian Lara emphasized that Belarus has a  
high level of scientific and technological development due to the  
fact that there was a high level of development there during the time  
of the Soviet Union. He said Venezuela has high expectations from the  
relationship with Belarus, including the eventual possibility of  
exporting products such as heavy-duty trucks to the rest of Latin  
America.

In Caracas on Friday, President Lukashenko and President Chavez  
inaugurated an exhibition of the best industrial production,  
craftsmanship, and culture from Belarus. Hundreds of presenters from  
Belarus will present Belorussian textiles, foods, and diverse sectors  
of production with the purpose of deepening commercial ties between  
the countries.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro emphasized the importance  
of the exposition, which he assured will be attended by important  
diplomats and businessmen from Latin America who are interested in  
building a relationship with Belarus.

"Belarus inherited the technological, scientific, and industrial  
formation of the Soviet Union," said Maduro. He said that the  
European nation had a lot to offer Venezuela in terms of highways,  
city development, mining sectors, gas sectors, heavy machinery, and  
petrochemicals.

Another of the agreements signed is for the creation of a joint  
company to produce televisions and other low-cost electronic goods  
and another company for the production of low-weight trucks.

The Venezuelan president emphasized the importance of the agreements  
for Venezuela's development, and the importance of Lukashenko's  
presence in Venezuela.

"These agreements are proof that now Venezuela is free. Now we have  
ceased to be a colony of the United States," Chavez said. "Ten years  
ago it was unthinkable that Lukashenko would even be in Venezuela."

The two nations began to deepen bilateral relations after Chavez  
traveled to Minsk in July of 2006. Looking to diversify Venezuela's  
economy and geopolitical relations, the Venezuelan president has  
sought numerous agreements with the former Soviet-bloc nation and  
earlier this year gave Belarus a loan of 460 million dollars to pay a  
debt to Russia.

The two countries have signed 24 cooperative agreements over the last  
two years and plan to continue strengthening commercial and strategic  
ties. Both leaders are seen negatively from Washington, which calls  
Lukashenko "Europe's last dictator."

"The media dictatorship calls him the last dictator of Europe, and me  
the last dictator of Latin America," said Chavez. "Well, here we are,  
the last dictators."

He insisted that they are both demonized because they are "at the  
front of a process to liberate our people, to unite our nations, and  
break the neoliberal paradigm of globalization."

"We both resist a unipolar world and we both resist an empire that  
wants to be the owner of the world," he said.

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