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Gold9472
01-03-2006, 01:32 PM
Bolivia's Morales to meet Chavez

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4576972.stm

(Gold9472: As if being a left-winger was bad.)

1/3/2006

Bolivia's president-elect, Evo Morales, is in Venezuela to meet President Hugo Chavez on his second foreign trip before his inauguration on 22 January.

Correspondents say the trip will cause concern among US officials worried about the rise of what they see as left-wing radicalism in Latin America.

Mr Morales last week held talks in Cuba with Fidel Castro. He will also visit Europe, South Africa, China and Brazil.

On Monday, he held his first meeting with the US ambassador to Bolivia.

A statement from Mr Morales' party said the meeting had been cordial and the two men had agreed on the importance of fighting the illegal drugs trade.

The new Bolivian leader has said he will consider easing restrictions on the production of the coca plant - used in the production of cocaine - for traditional and industrial purposes.

Mr Morales, who will become Bolivia's first indigenous president, has opposed the US-backed coca eradication programme.

No invitation
Mr Morales was received with full military honours as he stepped off the plane in Caracas.

He is due to lay a wreath at the grave of Simon Bolivar, the Venezuelan-born independence leader, before holding talks with President Chavez at the presidential palace.

The two leaders are expected to sign a series of bilateral declarations of intent, covering areas such as energy co-operation and trade.

Mr Morales and Hugo Chavez are seen as strong ideological allies who share a common vision for a left-wing South American economic and political bloc.

After his stop in Venezuela, Mr Morales will travel to Spain.

His 10-day tour of seven countries does not include the US.

Mr Morales would have gone to Washington had he been invited, his spokesman Alex Contreras said.

Mr Morales was elected president with nearly 54% of the vote, the biggest support for any candidate since democracy was restored in Bolivia in the 1980s.

Partridge
01-03-2006, 08:01 PM
Bolivia 'to join Chavez's fight'
BBC





http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41179000/jpg/_41179088_mor_cha_ap203b.jpg Evo Morales and Hugo Chavez share a common vision

Bolivia's president-elect Evo Morales has said his country is uniting with Venezuela in a fight against "neoliberalism and imperialism". Mr Morales spoke as he met Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez on a brief second leg of a seven-nation tour.

The two men agreed to share information and resources in agriculture, healthcare, education and energy.

Mr Morales won the recent election on pledges to raise social spending and turn away from free-market policies.

Correspondents say his trip may cause concern among US officials worried about the rise of what they see as left-wing radicalism in Latin America.

Mr Morales last week held talks in Cuba with Fidel Castro. He will also visit Europe, South Africa, China and Brazil.

'Axis of good'

Mr Morales was received in Caracas with full military honours - as well as an embrace and smiles from Mr Chavez.

"We are here to resolve social problems, economic problems," Mr Morales said.

"This movement is not only in Bolivia; Fidel in Cuba and Hugo in Venezuela are logging triumphs in social movements and leftist policies."

Earlier, Mr Chavez said the two men were building an "axis of good".

"The axis of evil - do you know who the axis of evil is? Washington - that's the axis of evil. And their allies in the world, who threaten, who invade, who kill, who assassinate," he said.

"We are creating the axis of good, the new axis of the new century."

In a news conference shortly before Mr Morales left Venezuela, the men said they had agreed to work together in a number of fields.

Until Mr Morales is formally sworn in as president of Bolivia in just under two weeks' time, these documents remain declarations of intent, says the BBC's Greg Morsbach in Caracas.

But they agreed to carry out a literacy programme in Bolivia, with the intended aim of eradicating illiteracy within 30 months. Mr Chavez pledged his government would provide technical assistance in terms of gas and oil exploration.

The issue of energy is key in both nations. Venezuela is the world's fifth biggest oil exporter and Mr Chavez has taken steps to bring the state-owned oil company under more direct government control.

In Bolivia, a raging struggle over who should exploit the country's large natural gas reserves, discovered over the past decade, has claimed two presidencies.

No US visit

Mr Morales' next stop is Spain. His 10-day tour of seven countries does not include the US.

Mr Morales would have gone to Washington had he been invited, his spokesman Alex Contreras said.

On Monday he met held his first meeting with the US ambassador to Bolivia.

A statement from Mr Morales' party said the meeting had been cordial and the two men had agreed on the importance of fighting the illegal drugs trade.

Mr Morales was elected president with nearly 54% of the vote, the biggest support for any candidate since democracy was restored in Bolivia in the 1980s.


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Classic:


Hugo Chavez action doll is best-seller

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/images/2006/01/04/20060104_doll.jpg Venezuela’s top-selling toy this Christmas was an action doll figure of President Hugo Chavez.

Different versions of the doll include one in a combat uniform and one another which reads one of the president’s anti-American speeches. A spokesman for one of the country’s leading toy shops told Estado de Sao Paulo: “It was amazing, the Hugo Chavez doll sold a lot more than Spiderman, Superman or any other toy this year. “Our president really is our favourite hero!” ananova

Partridge
01-03-2006, 08:03 PM
I WANT ONE! In fact, I want all three!