Text 26184, 155 rader
Skriven 2007-01-14 11:37:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: Heroes pf the left
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The heroes of the left conspire together...

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http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3351871,00.html

Iran, Venezuela agree to thwart ‘US domination’ 


Presidents Chavez, Ahmadinejad say ready to spend billions of dollars to 
finance projects in other countries to help thwart US domination. ‘We’ll 
underpin investments in countries whose governments are making efforts 
to liberate themselves from the (US) imperialist yoke,’ Venezuelan 
leader says 

Associated Press Published:  01.14.07, 08:05  




Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said 
they were ready to spend billions of dollars (euros) financing projects 
in other countries to help thwart US domination. 

 

The anti-US Presidents whose efforts to extend their influence have 
alarmed Washington met Saturday in Venezuela’s capital, the first stop 
on Ahmadinejad’s tour of Latin America that will also see him visit 
newly elected leftist leaders in Nicaragua and Ecuador. 

 

The oil-rich nations had previously announced plans for a joint USD 2 
billion fund to finance investments in Venezuela and Iran, but Chavez 
and Ahmadinejad said Saturday that the money would also be used for 
projects in friendly third countries. 

“It will permit us to underpin investments ... Above all in those 
countries whose governments are making efforts to liberate themselves 
from the (US) imperialist yoke,ö said Chavez. 

 

“This fund, my brother,ö Chavez said referring to Ahmadinejad, “Will 
become a mechanism for liberation.ö “Death to US imperialism!ö he said. 
Ahmadinejad called it a “very importantö decision that would help 
promote “Joint cooperation in third countries,ö especially in Latin 
American and African countries. 

 

It was not clear if the leaders were referring to investment in 
infrastructure, social and energy projects - areas that the two 
countries have focused on until now - or other types of financing. 

 

Before his meeting with Ahmadinejad, Chavez said in his state of the 
nation address that he had personally expressed hope to Thomas Shannon, 
head of the US State Department’s Western Hemisphere affairs bureau, for 
better relations between their two countries. 

 

Chavez said he spoke with Shannon on the sidelines of Nicaraguan 
President Daniel Ortega’s inauguration earlier this week, saying, “We 
shook hands and I told him: ‘I hope that everything improves.ö’ Chavez - 
a close ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro whom Washington sees as a 
destabilizing influence - has pledged billions of dollars (euros) of 
help to the region in foreign aid, bond buyouts and preferentially 
financed oil deals. 

 

'Champion of struggle against imperialism' 

Iran, meanwhile, is allegedly bankrolling militant groups in the Middle 
East like Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, as well as insurgents in Iraq, in 
a bid to extend its influence. 


 

Ahmadinejad’s visit Saturday - his second to Venezuela in less than four 
months - comes as he seeks to break international isolation over his 
country’s nuclear program and possibly line up new allies in Latin 
America. 

 

After Venezuela, Ahmadinejad will visit newly elected leftist 
governments in Nicaragua and Ecuador that are also seeking to reduce 
Washington’s influence in the region. Bolivian President Evo Morales, 
another critic of US policy, said he plans to meet with Ahmadinejad 
while both are in Ecuador Monday. 

 

Chavez and Ahmadinejad have been increasingly united by their deep-
seated antagonism to Washington. Chavez has become a leading defender of 
Iran’s nuclear ambitions, accusing the United States of using the issue 
as a pretext to attack a regime it opposes and promising to stand with 
Iran. 

 

Ahmadinejad, meanwhile, has called Chavez “The champion of the struggle 
against imperialism.ö 

 

On Saturday, he congratulated Chavez on his December re-election and 
said the Venezuelan people were wise to choose “A person as important on 
the world stage, a person so wise as Hugo Chavez.ö 

 
 

The increasingly close relationship has alarmed some, and critics of 
Chavez accuse him of pursuing an alliance that does not serve 
Venezuela’s interests and jeopardizes its ties with the United States, 
the country’s top oil buyer. Venezuela is among the top five suppliers 
of crude to the US market. 

 

Both countries are members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting 
Countries, Chavez said Saturday that they had agreed to back an oil 
production cut in the cartel in order to stem a recent fall in crude 
prices. 

 

“We know today there is too much crude in the market,ö Chavez said. “We 
have agreed to join our forces within OPEC ... To support a production 
cut and save the price of oil.ö 

 

The two governments, which already plan to jointly produce everything 
from bricks to bicycles and develop oil fields in Venezuela, signed 
another 11 accords Saturday to explore further opportunities for 
cooperation in areas like tourism, education and mining. 

 

Ahmadinejad is set to travel to Nicaragua to meet on Sunday with Ortega, 
a former Marxist guerrilla. On Monday, he travels to Ecuador for the 
inauguration of President-elect Rafael Correa, another outspoken critic 
of the administration of US President George W. Bush and Washington’s 
policies in Latin America. 

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