Chavez lauds Belarus leader as "friend"

[tocqueville]

By Andrei Makhovsky
1 hour, 14 minutes ago


MINSK (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Monday lauded Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, accused in the West of crushing fundamental rights, as a friend and vowed to join him in creating a "fighting team."

Chavez, who proclaims socialist ideals to unite South America against U.S. influence, is on a world tour in part to seek support for oil-rich Venezuela's bid to win a place on the U.N. Security Council.

"I have found yet another friend here," a beaming Chavez told reporters through an interpreter after he shared long handshakes with the Belarussian leader.

"And with such a friend we will together form a team, like a soccer team. This will be a fighting team."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060724/wl_nm/belarus_venezuela_dc
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that will maybe cool off some 100% Chavez supporters

[Zynx]

1. Lukashenko is a thug and a tyrant.

Whoever is friends with him is no friend of mine.

[YOY]

2. Tochno Tak

He's nothing nice and nothing to side with.

Lukashenko has been holding Belarus back since day one with his stronghold.

[ugarte]

3. No one's perfect. Look at our own wonderful president

embracing his good friend Musharraf. All diplomacy is a cynical game of self-interests. What else is new?

[tocqueville]

4. well Bush's diplomacy doen't excuses Chavez's

there are plenty of progressives and socialists in the 3rd world and Europe that keep Belarus away. It's a big difference to have formal diplomatic ties and call somebody a friend. Who's gonna be next ? Kim Il Jung ?

Chavez is giving plenty of arguments to the freepers et al...

[ugarte]

6. And a gaffe is not necessarily a character flaw

I'll give Chavez the benefit of the doubt.

[endarkenment]

5. We are big friends with the Chinese tyrants

who make Lukashenko look minor league. Nobody says boo about that any more. Chavez is courting UN votes for a seat on the SC. To do that you actually have to not insult the leaders of countries that you want to support you, a trick that ** hasn't quite got a grasp on yet. See Russia's recent poke in our eye over our Big Iranian Deadline.

But do keep cherry picking the Chavez bad news for us. By the way I read recently (NYT I think) that even the Venezuala elites are warming up to Chavez as, right now, all of Venezuela is doing quite well even with all of that nasty nationalization and health care/education/housing communistic give-aways to the poor and all.

p.s. Chavez is a big pal of Castro too. I'm sure you can dig up some praise of him to trot out as well.

Keep up the good work.

[INDIA]

7. Red flag #563 for Chavez.

Hey, I'm all about helping the poor, and Chavez certainly has a good track record at that, but I just can't get behind this guy. All the anti-Bush rhetoric (while amusing :) , couple of good one liners) is completely inappropriate for a world leader, better suited for a radio talk show host. Dressing up in military uniform and handing out rifles? Claiming the US is going to invade to distract his people? And then he chooses to meet with and align himself with not only enemies of Bush, but enemies of America, Europe, and the rest of the free world.

Hey, cheer him on all you want. I'm sitting this one out.

[ugarte]

8. You have to keep in mind that if Chavez falls

and the US gets its hand-chosen puppet in his place, the result will be a hundred times worse than Chavez. Considering the alternative, I'll take Chavez any day. But it's really a matter for the Venezuelans, and hopefully they alone, to decide. None of our business.