BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

23/07/2006

Venezuelan President Chavez visits Belarus for 'unity pact'

MINSK, Belarus - Venezuela's anti-U.S. leader, Hugo Chavez, began an international tour Sunday with a visit to the former Soviet nation of Belarus.

Chavez, a leftist former army lieutenant colonel, also plans to visit Russia, a key arms supplier, and Qatar, Iran, Vietnam and Mali.

Chavez flew into the Belarusian capital, Minsk, in the evening. He was to hold official talks with President Alexander Lukashenko today.

Chavez's older brother Adan visited Minsk last month and proposed forming a common front against the United States and holding an international conference to set up a court to try President Bush. Adan Chavez, Venezuela's ambassador to Cuba, described the United States as a "common enemy."

"I have come here to conclude a unity pact. Here we see a model of the social state that we are beginning to create," Hugo Chavez said.

Lukashenko, a former collective farm director who is an admirer of the old Soviet Union, has been in power since 1994, quashing dissent and jailing opponents.

The United States and European Union slapped financial sanctions and a visa ban on Lukashenko and other top officials to protest his victory in the March presidential election, which they say was flawed. Opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich denounced the results as fraudulent. Lukashenko charges that the United States and other Western nations are trying to overthrow him.

Chavez's agenda during the 24-hour visit includes a tour of a military academy and the "Stalin Line," a network of restored World War II-era defense installations, where he will be offered the chance to test his firing skills.

Lukashenko's spokesman, Pavel Liogky, said seven agreements would be signed on topics including military-technical cooperation and trade and economic ties.

In Moscow, where Chavez is expected late today, the highlight of the visit will be a signing ceremony for Russian weapons contracts. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Friday that Russia had agreed to supply Venezuela with 30 Sukhoi SU-30 jets and 30 helicopters for more than $1 billion.

Despite Washington's objections, Venezuela is buying 100,000 Russian-made AK-103 assault rifles and hopes to sign an agreement to set up factories in Venezuela to produce Kalashnikov assault rifles.

Chavez has used surging oil revenue to modernize his military, signing multibillion-dollar defense deals with countries including Russia and Spain.

Source:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-07-23-cavez-belarus_x.htm